2021-56 - Condemn attacks on abortion

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Bullock, Kepple, O'Malley, Rader, Shachner RESOLUTION 2021-56 BY: A RESOLUTION to oppose and condemn attacks on abortion access from federal, state, and local entities and to assure residents that Lakewood City Council will fight to preserve and protect abortion rights within the City of Lakewood, within the limits of the law. WHEREAS, this Council opposes and condemns Senate Bill 123, currently before the 134"' Ohio General Assembly. Senate Bill 123, also known as a "trigger ban," proposes to ban all abortions in the State of Ohio if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade — which is both a real and frightening possibility; and, WHEREAS, this Council opposes and condemns Texas's S.B. 8, currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. S.B 8 was enacted in May 2021 and employs a questionable legal strategy to enforce an abortion ban by empowering private citizens with the right to sue medical providers and those who assist an abortion in any way; and, WHEREAS, this Council opposes and condemns the efforts of various Ohio municipalities such as Mason, Lebanon, Celina and London which have enacted or proposed local abortion bans that are either blatantly unconstitutional, or rely on the success of the abovementioned legal strategies; and, WHEREAS, in 2019, Lakewood City Council adopted legislation to publicly oppose the State of Ohio's six -week abortion ban and updated the Codified Ordinances to remove outmoded and unenforced passages from 1977 that attempted to restrict abortions within city limits; and, WHEREAS, this Council stands by its convictions, expressed in 2019, that government at any level should play no role in restricting or banning abortion and this Council would oppose any future proposal that intends to create new barriers, bans, or restrictions to reproductive health care in Lakewood, including abortions; and, WHEREAS, this Council believes that access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortion, is an essential human right that promotes reproductive health, mental health, economic justice and equality; Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, OHIO: Section 1. That this Council does hereby oppose and condemn the various attacks on abortion access from federal, state, and local entities. Section 2. That this Council would oppose any future proposal that intends to create new barriers, bans, or restrictions to reproductive health care in Lakewood, including abortions. Section 3. That the Clerk of Council is directed to transmit copies of this Resolution to Lakewood's representatives in the Ohio General Assembly and to the Clerks of Council in the municipalities of Mason, Lebanon, Celina, and London.