No more blood on our hands: Ohio governor criminalizes menstruation

(CNN) Columbus, OH — In a speech addressing constituents, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine introduced legislation criminalizing menstrual periods. The Governor’s office since clarified that DeWine’s pro-life decision proposes a minimum federal sentence of five years and recommends capital punishment. The proposal comes amid a wave of increasing reproductive regulation in conservative states. The speech was met with applause and a standing ovation no one felt they could end. Read the transcript:

“If every man went outside and stoned a random American citizen once a month, would you sit idly by and let it happen? Most Americans say no. And yet, in America, we have given this right to women without a second thought.

I bring up this idea because, recently, I have been thinking a lot about the status of the pre-born in America. While righteous citizens have pushed to tighten our abortion laws, charge women for the reckless wasting of human life via miscarriage and protect the lives of future shooting victims from the brutality of IVF, rights continue to be ripped from the pre-born. Life exists once the egg exists; an unfertilized egg could have a favorite shape or its own version of utopia. We need to protect life from the start by imposing mandatory minimum sentences for baby-killing females practicing menstrual periods.

In women’s bathrooms across the country, life is treated like trash—receptacles overflow with blood-soaked cotton, each a testament to souls forever divorced from their soon-to-be bodies. Every offense is not only an affront to America and humanity, but to womanhood. Women are shedding their spawn and inherent maternity in one fell swoop and calling it Tuesday. It has become a vicious cycle: women become more depressed with each killing as they deny their self-actualization as females and then are likely to cause more destruction. When we normalize this brutality, we wreak havoc on the feminine psyche, our national fabric, and our future.

I would ask the age-old question, “If your grandchildren ask what you did to help, what would you tell them?” But the real question is whether they will even be born.

Our future generations are bleeding out, and we are letting them.

I think, as a country, we know this is wrong. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the classic saying: “Your liberty to be a human being ends where your egg begins.” So why on earth do we allow women’s God and life-hating ritualistic killings when it is an outrage to all reasonable family and community sensibilities?

We need to stop. Part of the problem is that when we talk about Roe v. Wade, we talk about fetuses. I hear debates about the pre-born and they all focus almost exclusively on fertilized eggs or even further developed ones, even though somewhere deep down, we know that life begins before then. I can’t help but think that Americans these days seem to have forgotten that roe refers to the unfertilizedeggs inside fish ovaries. I admit that I feel responsible for this ignorance as a strong opponent of marine reproduction education in schools, but the risk of giving kids ideas was far too high.

I think the more consequential issue is that women in America believe their bodies are their own, not vessels for incubation and reproduction. I tell my daughters: when God created Eve, it was from Adam’s rib; he sacrificed part of his body to create women. It is only right that you do the same for our children, all of our children.

The logic there is undeniable, and the pages I’ve written on it in my journal have been peer-reviewed by many of my friends, each an authoritative expert on women’s bodies. Unfortunately, people still argue against such statements, citing things like “science” and “separation from church and state.” Yes, I’ll admit that religious morals cannot guide our government, but just like vanilla isn’t a flavor, Christianity isn’t a religion—it’s a fact.

This isn’t the first time our country has deemed one life more important than another, but we cannot go back. The evil and unjust time between 1973 and 2022 was harrowing—our values and demand for hangers collapsed before our eyes. I saw our country fall to pieces. It’s easy to turn away from our history, as heinous as it is, but we must hold those years close, forever a reminder of our sins.

This disgrace of life wouldn’t be possible without foul products from unclean hygiene companies like Proctor and Gamble. But tampons don’t kill people; women do. I used to think that the companies enabling these killings were our adversaries. When I heard they’ve been spiking their product and surreptitiously poisoning users with heavy metals, I knew I was wrong. Proverbs 11:21 says, “Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” As uncouth as their products are, it’s heartening to see Proctor and Gamble embracing the scripture. I only wish females would do the same.

As governor, I will not allow females to have periods with abandon, because if I do, I

am allowing our society to decay. No, forcing it. Menstruation is such a classic manifestation of the “broken window theory,” it doesn’t even need explaining.

Women and so called “doctors” have told me that periods aren’t controllable, but then turn around and say, “her body, her choice.” The hypocrisy is offensive. Even if “scientists” prove periods are involuntary, I will carry this legislation to term.

Sometimes, what is right and just is more important than what is proven. This is one of those times. Science said we could make a cobalt bomb; ethics said otherwise. Science said we could go to the moon; shadows said otherwise. Science said women are autonomous people; I said otherwise.

In Ohio, when murderers can’t control themselves, we do it for them.”

The American Medical Association responded to the speech, saying DeWine has a “fundamental misunderstanding of the human body and its most basic functions.” The Governor’s office dismissed the criticism as “leftist hysteria” and said aborting the plan would go against DeWine’s values.

Correction: Original coverage referred to Governor Mike DeWine as “Governor Mike DeWhine.” Further erroneous corrections identified the Governor as “Mike DaWhine,” “Mike DeWanton,” “Mike DeWimp,” “Mike DeWeak,” and “Mike DeWomb.” CNN sincerely apologizes for using more appropriate but incorrect names.