Plog Number 22
Hello all, Happy Friday Eve! Thursdays are so exciting because they precede Friday. One thing I love about summer in Ohio is that by July you barely have to cut the grass at all. In May and June it is every week or more because it is growing like crazy but by July it turns brown and barely grows even if you water. More time for long walks, summer concerts, sitting outdoors and enjoying the summer.
I know I mentioned it before but I don’t think I specifically plogged about the 10 year old girl from Ohio. She was sexually assaulted and discovered she was pregnant after the sixth week of her pregnancy. With Ohio’s 6 week law she was not able to have a legal abortion here, so she traveled to Indiana and had a LEGAL abortion due to the rape she endured. She did nothing wrong but be a female with the capability of childbearing. There has been a lot of gum flapping and back lash since her story got out. Both the Ohio and Indiana Attorney Generals have weighed in publically and vowed to look into the situation. Representative Jim Jordan has said it was all a “lie” in a tweet and then had it removed. Ohio Governor DeWine said it was “a tragedy”. I don’t know why DeWine didn’t do as Governor Abbott of Texas did and just outlaw rape and incest in the state?? The Indiana Attorney General wants to go after the doctor criminally on a technicality. The Columbus Police have now arrested the man who raped this child, so there goes the “big lie”. I guess the Right to Lifers would say that this girl should have had this baby. I believe it was Republican politician JD Vance who says “two wrongs don’t make a right” in regard to abortion after rape and/or incest.
For a moment let’s talk about this 10 year old girl. She is 10. That means she probably just finished fourth grade this past year. She probably attends either elementary school or early middle school depending on how her district divides the grades. Most 10 year olds aren’t allowed to date so she probably has no idea what sex, relationships or love are all about. Even if she is mature, her mentality is that of a child. When I was 10 we played baseball every day, went fishing in our pond and bathed twice a week. I know Yuck! But I am showing the contrast of what 10 year old life is like for some of us. At no time was I capable of carrying and raising a child. My mother would have been stuck doing the work if I had a child at that age. All of our lives are different but she certainly suffered from bad circumstance and bad timing.
When I think about this girl a few things come to mind. I had better not hear anyone say that “she was grown for her age” or “she developed early”, and I had better not hear her name or her family’s name leaked to the press. I worked as a Prosecutor and a Guardian Ad Litem in Juvenile Court for more than 10 years and I know that her identity and past behavior should be guarded sacredly. Ohio has victim protection laws including Marsy's law and the Ohio Rape Shield Law. Federally there is 18 USC S403 states that a knowing violation of privacy protection is considered contempt and is punishable by up to 1 year's imprisonment. Consider those as warnings. I can only imagine the Conservative Press vilifying her as a lurid Jezebel who got what she asked for.
This 10 year old’s life will be forever changed because she got raped, had a legal abortion and survived it all. So I say all this to show how this Supreme Court decision (Dobbs) was thoughtless, theocratic, errant and hurtful to women. God Bless that 10 year old girl. I hope we never see her picture on the cover of any tabloid. She deserves support, therapy and privacy. She is and will be post traumatic.
Kiss your kids tonight Reclaim
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