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The Daily Signal
Ohio Lawmakers
Put ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban on Governor’s Desk
Leah Jessen
December 07, 2016
The Ohio Legislature has passed and sent to Gov. John Kasich’s desk a
measure that would ban abortion after a baby’s heartbeat is detected,
about six weeks following conception.
Lawmakers passed the Unborn Heartbeat Protection Act on Tuesday as an
amendment to a child abuse and neglect bill.
If signed by Kasich, the legislation would “generally prohibit an
abortion of an unborn human individual with a detectable heartbeat,”
according to the language of the bill.
“Republicans are united that abortion is unacceptable in America,” U.S.
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said in a statement Wednesday. “Our party
platform advocates for a complete ban on abortion and states that ‘the
unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be
infringed.’”
“Our party platform advocates for a complete ban on abortion,”
@WarrenDavidson says.
“Fetal heartbeat,” the bill asserts, “ … has become a key medical
predictor that an unborn human individual will reach live birth.”
The Ohio House passed the bill 56-39 and the Senate 21-10.
Kasich, a Republican who generally is pro-life, has 10 days to sign or
veto the legislation.
Kasich’s press secretary, Emmalee Kalmbach, would not characterize the
governor’s inclination amid a flurry of activity in the Legislature’s
lame-duck session.
“A hallmark of lame duck is a flood of bills, including, bills inside
of bills and we will closely examine everything we receive,” Kalmbach
told The Daily Signal in an email.
In 2014, however, Kasich said he had legal concerns about a “heartbeat
bill,” The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.
“At the moment of conception, a new and distinct human being comes into
existence—someone who has inherent value and possesses a right to
life,” Melanie Israel, a research associate at The Heritage Foundation,
told The Daily Signal. “By witnessing to this fundamental truth, the
pro-life movement has seen significant victories in state legislatures
in recent years.”
The heartbeat abortion ban provides an exception in cases where a
physician performs a medical procedure “designed or intended to prevent
the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the
substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of
the pregnant woman.”
“The passage of this legislation in the Ohio Senate demonstrates our
commitment to protecting the children of Ohio at every stage of life,”
state Sen. Kris Jordan, R-Ostrander, said in remarks quoted by CNN.
Similar laws have been struck down by courts in Arkansas and North
Dakota.
“A new president [and] new Supreme Court appointees change the dynamic,
and there was consensus in our caucus to move forward,” Ohio Senate
President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said, according to The Columbus
Dispatch.
In Washington, Davidson said:
The protections provided in the Unborn Heartbeat Protection Amendment
are a step in the right direction in protecting the most vulnerable
among us, the unborn. I look forward to this becoming law and saving
countless lives in Ohio.
Both pro-choice and pro-life groups, however, question the legality of
such legislation.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio labeled the heartbeat bill as “dangerous.”
“Banning women from getting a medical procedure is out of touch with
Ohio values and is completely unacceptable,” Kellie Copeland, executive
director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said in a prepared statement.
“Clearly this bill’s supporters are hoping that President-elect Trump
will have the chance to pack the U.S. Supreme Court with justices that
are poised to overturn Roe vs. Wade.”
In 1973, the Supreme Court case known as Roe v. Wade made abortion
legal across the nation.
“Everyone is swept up in Trumpmania, but let’s be realistic,” Ohio
Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said of the prospects of the
legislation in court, according to USA Today.
His pro-life group supports a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, when
scientific evidence suggests unborn babies feel pain, but was neutral
on the heartbeat bill.
“Both are previability [abortion] bans, but we believe [the 20-week
ban] is the best strategy for overturning Roe v. Wade and will
ultimately prove most palatable to the Supreme Court,” Katherine
Franklin, a spokeswoman for Ohio Right to Life, told The Hill.
Heritage’s Israel, however, said the Ohio measure has value:
Advancing policies that protect the most vulnerable and defenseless
among us will help hasten the day when every human being, from the
moment of conception, is protected in law and welcomed in life.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
Editor's Note: As
of Dec. 13, Kasich has not signed the bill, nor has he indicated his
intention.
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