Ohio is on a fast track to becoming the real-life Gilead of The Handmaid’s Tale, with a new abortion bounty law more restrictive than the oppressive ban recently passed in Texas. 

House Bill 480, also known as the 2363 Act, named by its sponsors for the number of abortions performed in the nation daily, criminalizes abortions instead of improving Ohioans’ access to affordable childcare or helping families. 

Co-sponsored by over half of Ohio House Republicans, House Bill 480 bars any abortion from being performed in the state and allows “any person” to file a civil lawsuit with a $10,000 fine against anyone in Ohio who performs an abortion or “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” including using health insurance to pay for it. 

Under the new law, those seeking an abortion in Ohio cannot claim to be ignorant of the law, decry its unconstitutionality, or rely on a court decision that is later overruled, even if the decision is overruled retroactively. 

But, the most egregious aspect of HB 480 is the lack of exceptions for rape or incest, although the victims cannot be sued by the rapist or anyone who impregnated them via sexual violence. 

“The sanctity of human life, born and preborn, must be preserved in Ohio,” state Rep. Jena Powell, a Darke County Republican who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “The 2363 Act is about protecting our fundamental, constitutional right to be born and live. Abortion kills children, scars families, and harms women. We can and must do better.”

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democratic candidate for governor, blasted HB 480: 

HB 480 follows Ohio’s failed “heartbeat bill” in banning abortions performed when a heartbeat is detected, at about six weeks; a federal judge blocked that law from being passed. But, Ohio is on a mission to end abortions in the state altogether and has passed several other regulatory restrictions. 

As reported on Cleveland.com, the number of abortion clinics operation in Ohio has been cut in half—and more are on the way if new legislation passes in the Senate. 

Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, tells Cincinnati.com that she fears the law may deputize “anti-abortion vigilantes” in the state. 

“We know when things are criminalized, Black folks, women of color, and nonbinary people are the ones most under scrutiny,” Copeland said. “Other people who have the money will find a way to flee Ohio to get the care they need.” 

Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments from Texas regarding its SB8 law, and some have said things didn’t go well for the state. That Justices Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett challenged the law, but I wouldn’t get too excited; last month, the Court allowed SB8 to go into effect, forcing hundreds of women to drive out of the state for safe abortions. 

According to Communication Director Zack Gingrich-Gaylord of the Trust Women Clinic in Oklahoma City, OK, since SB8 went into effect, their patient load has nearly doubled. Gingrich-Gaylord told KFOR-4 in Oklahoma that patients come from places as far south as Galveston or Corpus Christi, Texas. The clinic has been so swamped that they’re suggesting patients seeking abortions go to Wichita, Kansas.

“It’s not good,” Gingrich-Gaylord says. “These are patients who would otherwise be going to seek care in their own communities. The surrounding states are not that big, and they don’t have that many clinics. So, it’s creating a significant strain on the neighboring states to Texas.”

So, as we tumble down into some kind of horrifying dystopian reality, next month the Supreme Court will review a separate abortion case from Mississippi, where the state is asking justices to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, legalizing abortions nationwide.