There was a silent yet visible demonstration at the Statehouse today as a bill that would ban an abortion procedure was introduced in committee. More than a dozen women dressed as characters from a well-known dystopian novel showed up as the Senate Judiciary Committee considered the legislation.
They wore long scarlet robes and large white hoods that dwarfed their faces. Some were pregnant themselves. And the women sat without speaking in the front row of a Statehouse hearing room as two Republican state senators introduced the to ban the dilation and extraction procedure commonly used in abortions past 12 weeks of pregnancy. Jaime Miracle of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio says the women were dressed like those in the popular book and television series 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥�, in which a militarized government strips women of their rights and freedom and requires some to become surrogates against their will.
鈥淛ust like in 'The Handmaid's Tale' where women are forced to give birth without their consent, Ohio is rapidly becoming more and more where we create different classes of women 鈥︹�omen who have access to the abortion care they need and have choices鈥�.and women of color and low-income women who just don鈥檛 have that same access.鈥�
Katie Franklin with Ohio Right to Life, which backs the bill, criticizes the silent demonstration.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really important conversation that needs to be had here in Ohio and across the country and unfortunately, today鈥檚 demonstration is a total distraction of that. It鈥檚 a total mockery of that.鈥�
Franklin, who is 28 weeks pregnant herself, says it鈥檚 difficult for think about the abortion procedure that she describes as 鈥渄ismemberment.鈥�
鈥淚 think the important takeaway is that dismemberment abortions are happening nearly three thousand times every year in Ohio.鈥�
None of the women who were dressed as handmaids spoke at the hearing because it was sponsor testimony only. But NARAL鈥檚 Miracle says she thinks their mere presence made an impact.
鈥淪ometimes the most powerful protest is the silent protest.鈥�
The 鈥淗andmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� protest has also been used by abortion rights groups in Texas and Missouri in the past.
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