After the Indianapolis Star reported on a 10-year-old Ohio rape survivor who had to travel to Indiana for an abortion, politicians didn't waste time politicizing the story.
In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown talk about how many Republicans were quick to call the story "fake news."
"Not a damn scintilla of evidence"
An Indiana OB/GYN got a call from a child abuse doctor in Ohio saying they had a young girl in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant. Because Ohio’s law banning abortion after the detection of cardiac activity had just taken effect, and it has no exceptions for rape or incest, the girl had to travel to Indiana for an abortion.
Abortion rights supporters seized on the story as an illustration of the consequences of overturning Roe and Ohio’s new law. President Biden highlighted the case in criticizing Roe.
Abortion opponents started casting doubt on the story, hinting it could have been made up by the Indiana doctor who strongly supports abortion rights.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told the Columbus Dispatch, "I'm not saying it could not have happened. What I'm saying to you is there is not a damn scintilla of evidence. And shame on the Indianapolis paper that ran this thing on a single source who has an obvious axe to grind."
That was before police charged a Columbus man with raping a ten-year-old child. Police say 27-year-old Gershon Fuentes confessed to raping the child twice. And according to the Columbus Dispatch, police testified the victim underwent an abortion in Indianapolis.
After charges were filed, Yost released a statement saying “My heart aches for the pain suffered by this young child."
But he still wasn’t apologetic for his earlier comments.
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