Ohio GOP wants to add 20-week abortion ban to heartbeat bill

OH senators voted Tuesday for a bill that could effectively outlaw abortions.

Ohio’s bill is the most extreme abortion restriction in the country, effectively banning the procedure before most women even realize they’re pregnant, pro-abortion rights advocates said.

The “Heartbeat Bill” hasn’t moved since it was passed in the Ohio House in 2015 after years of delay.

Amendments made to the bill in the Ohio House were approved by the Senate last week, and the bill now goes to the governor to be signed into law. Similar laws adopted in Arkansas and North Dakota have been struck down by federal courts.

In a statement, Planned Parenthood said the ban on abortion at around six weeks is “intended to make abortion illegal in the state of OH”. That measure could receive a final vote Wednesday. A 2013 law requires an OH doctor to perform an ultrasound before a woman can get an abortion; if the ultrasound detects a heartbeat, the doctor must offer the woman the chance to listen to it or view the ultrasound image. If he fails to veto the legislation in that time, the bill becomes law.

“I want to make some significant changes, and it’s great that the new governor is on board with that”, Bates said. The proposal would not allow an exception for rape or incest.

The current abortion law in OH requires a mandatory waiting period and counseling before the procedure can be performed.

“Anytime that you have a bill that deals with something in this realm, there’s always going to be someone who questions the constitutionality and there’s always going to be a potential for litigation and charge and we expect that so we will see what happens”. The 20-week ban has never passed the House and backers of that bill are now working to move the legislation through the lower chamber.

Asked if he expects the OH proposal to survive a legal challenge, Faber said: “I think it has a better chance than it did before”. The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the law would defy Supreme Court precedent, which protects abortion rights until the fetus is viable outside of the womb. (The bill would, however, make an exception when an abortion is deemed necessary to save the life of the mother.) The Supreme Court has held that states can not forbid abortion unless a fetus is viable outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks’ gestation. The bill quickly passed and went back to the House, which approved the revision and sent it to Kasich.

“We believe in an incremental approach”, Gonidakis said.

Senate Bill 331 started out as a measure to substitute statewide regulation for stricter rules on pet stores in Toledo and the Columbus suburb of Grove City. “By the time this law gets to the Supreme Court, I’m confident it will be upheld”.