Ohioans today have voted on abortion access. Issue 1, the ballot measure that would establish a right to abortion in the state constitution, has become viewed as a "political football" instead of the human rights issue it is, said Northwestern University medical ethicist Katie Watson.
"It's reported as political news, and it is political, but a lot of the news coverage on this has missed how many lives it will affect," said Watson, an associate professor of medical education, medical social sciences and obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. "It divorces the issue abortion care from its human impact to treat it as just one more political football. This is about human rights. And, when you put it on the ballot, we shouldn't be surprised when voters say, 'Yes, I would like to have human rights.'"
"No one wants their health played out on the field," said reproductive health expert Dr. Melissa Simon.
