skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Access Denied? Abortion Clinics Could Close in Ohio

play audio
Play

Tuesday, June 23, 2015   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Lawmakers are hammering out the details of the final state budget this week, and some reproductive-health groups are concerned about an amendment restricting abortion access.

A measure added last week involves variances, which are transfer agreements between doctors instead of hospitals. Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, says if the Ohio Department of Health fails to act on a variance request for 60 days, under the provision it would automatically be rejected and the clinic would have to close.

"We believe that is targeted towards clinics in Dayton and Cincinnati who have variances either pending or currently approved," says Copeland. "The intention is to abuse the regulatory process to close these clinics without any due process."

Supporters of the measure, including Ohio Right to Life, said it is needed to ensure abortion clinics are operated safely. Another last-minute provision applying a 30-mile limit to transfer agreements for abortion providers was removed from the Senate's final budget.

According to Copeland, closing clinics will not result in fewer abortions, but will make obtaining the procedure more difficult and dangerous for Ohio women. She says reducing unintended pregnancies can decrease the need for abortions.

"That can be done by increasing access to contraception, increasing access to comprehensive sex education, increasing access to health care, to paid maternity leave, to time off to care for their children when they're sick," she says.

Copeland adds that when a woman decides she can't go forward with a pregnancy, she'd "do about anything" to make that choice a reality – including traveling far distances.

"But what happens to the women who don't have those resources," asks Copeland. "Sadly, they sometimes turn to dangerous measures, and we have a grave concern about what happens to those women."

A law was passed in 2013 requiring abortion clinics to enter into transfer agreements with private hospitals only. Copeland says several clinics have closed since then, and only about eight remain.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021