10-year-old forced to travel for abortion after being denied in Ohio sparks widespread outrage

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. On Sunday, South Dakota Kristi Noem, seen as a rising star in the Republican party, defended abortion laws, including South Dakota’s, that would mean the 10-year-old from Ohio would have to have their baby. “There’s more that we’ve got to do to make sure we really are living a life that says every life is precious, especially innocent lives that have been shattered like that 10-year-old girl.” When pressed by anchor Dana Bash about whether forcing a child to have a child was considered a medical risk to the mother, Ms Noem was noncommittal. The Biden administration has committed to things like maintaining the already legal access to mailed, medication-based abortion services, but it hasn’t done anything that would change the new status quo. “So no, I’m not ok with the Democratic Party’s response federally simply being ‘vote in November.’ Residents in my state can’t wait till November and 10-year-olds can’t vote.” Instead, she called on the Biden administration to greenlight abortion clinic on federal lands, and to pressure holdouts in the Senate to go along with its calls to carve out an exception to the filibuster to pass a law codifying Roe.