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Women dressed as 'Handmaids' fill Ohio Statehouse in protest of proposed anti-abortion bill

Women dressed as 'Handmaids' fill Ohio Statehouse in protest of proposed anti-abortion bill
Posted at 1:14 PM, Jun 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-14 13:17:18-04

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A curious sight greeted lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse on Tuesday: A hoard of red-cloaked women in white bonnets staring silently downward.

The demonstration was the latest in a series around the country protesting bills that aim to decrease access to abortions. The costumes are borrowed from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian feminist classic The Handmaid’s Tale, which was recently turned into a Hulu series. The story talks about women being reduced to "walking wombs" because they have to bear children for upper-class couples who can't conceive.

The women were protesting Ohio Senate Bill 145, which would ban "dilation and evacuation," the most common method for second-trimester abortions.