An Ohio lawmaker who went to El Salvador recently on a fact-finding mission says her experience there is strengthening her resolve to fight abortion bans here at home.
Democratic Rep Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) says she visited women serving time behind bars in El Salvador for miscarriages rather than deliberate abortions.
“I would say pregnancy emergencies that have been pushed under criminalization," Howse says.
Howse visited the country with leaders from five other states that have passed abortion bans recently. Ohio's six-week abortion ban passed earlier this year but it has been put on hold by a federal court. And the legislature is considering three more bills, including a complete abortion ban that includes the death penalty. All are opposed by mainstream medical associations.