This guest post was written by Molly, a Planned Parenthood intern.

In some states there are parental notification requirements for minor girls seeking an abortion. There are also some parental consent laws that require a minor girl to have parental permission to have an abortion. But there are no laws that would require a legally adult woman to obtain consent from anyone besides herself to have an abortion. Except Ohio House Bill 252.

HB 252, the “paternal consent” bill, if passed, would require a grown woman to get signed permission from her impregnator to obtain an abortion. The bill states that "...no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus." Immediately, problems arise:

What if she is in an abusive relationship? Revealing her pregnancy may cause retribution from her partner. What if she has become pregnant through coercion or sabotage of birth control by her abusive partner? She’ll still need his permission to abort, and he legally could force her to carry her coerced pregnancy as a means to control her.

What if she doesn’t know who the father is? "If...the pregnant woman identifies two or more men as possible fathers of the fetus, the person who is to perform or induce the abortion shall perform a paternity test, or cause a paternity test to be performed, to determine the father of the fetus prior to accepting any consent required...and prior to performing or inducing an abortion of the pregnant woman's pregnancy.” Prenatal paternity tests can’t be performed until the 10th week of pregnancy at the earliest. 90% of abortions in the US take place before the 12th week of pregnancy*: the earlier it’s done, the safer and easier it is. As pregnancy progresses, it becomes more difficult to find an abortion provider—it may require traveling out of state. These are undue time and financial burdens on an already stressed woman. If a woman decides she needs a legal abortion, no technicalities should delay her.

What if the woman (or girl, because the bill makes no minimum or maximum age exceptions for the woman or impregnator) was molested incestuously? Consent would not be required if a paternity test “…gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of incest.” So a woman carrying the result of her likely forced incestuous union only has to wait for a paternity test to validate her word. See above.

What if she was raped? Consent would not be required if "A copy of a police report or a complaint, indictment, information, or other court document that gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of rape..." This means the woman would have to file a police report, and jump through more legal hoops to obtain an abortion. Many rape survivors don't want to file police reports, for any number of reasons (they've been traumatized enough and just want to move on, they fear retribution from their rapist—especially if he's a partner or family member, they know the rate of rapist conviction is troublingly low anyway, etc.) and being forced to go through the legal process would very likely put a long delay on getting an abortion. See above again.

Should a woman try to avoid these consent requirements, she would be "... guilty of abortion fraud, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the person previously has pleaded guilty to or has been convicted of a violation of this section, abortion fraud is a felony of the fifth degree." A first degree misdemeanor entails up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. A fifth degree felony entails up to one year in jail, a $2,500 fine, and as a felon she would be unlikely to hold a meaningful job for the rest of her life.

Under the guise of protecting fathers’ rights, the bill is just trying to find loopholes to limit women’s access to abortion. It takes away women’s bodily autonomy and puts it in the hands men—men who may not care about the women involved at all.The bill would legally allow a man to require a woman to become a parent but does absolutely nothing to charge him with the parental responsibilities he’ll be forcing on her. The most she would be able to do is charge him with child support, which is not always successful.

Many women do consult with their partners before getting an abortion. Many partners support and/or accompany their loved ones through the decision. Making a law that would require the impregnator’s permission for an abortion will only hurt women who are already in bad situations: rape and incest victims, women in abusive relationships, and those who are uneducated or misinformed about their options.

You can read the full text of the bill here.

You can sign a petition against this insulting and patronizing bill here.

*Guttmacher Institute