Frustrated that no sexual assault survivors spoke during a debate over an Ohio bill that would ban abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detectable, a representative revealed on the statehouse floor Wednesday that she had an abortion after being raped, the Toledo Blade newspaper reported.
“You don’t respect my reason, my rape, my abortion,” State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D) said during the debate over Ohio House Bill 69, which would ban abortion at as early as six weeks. “I guarantee you there are other women who should stand up with me and be courageous enough to speak.”
She went on to describe the bill as “fundamentally inhuman” and “unconstitutional.”
“I dare every one of you to judge me, because there’s only one judge I’m going to face,” she said. “I understand your story, but you don’t understand mine.”
Fedor had never publicly discussed the incidents — which occurred years ago while she served in the military — and kept them secret even from family members, the newspaper reported.
The Ohio House passed the bill 55-40, but the state Senate does not seem likely to take up the bill, according to the newspaper.
Watch below via the Toledo Blade:
