The Ohio Senate Dec. 12 passed one of the nation’s strictest regulations on abortion — a so-called “heartbeat” bill that would outlaw abortion as soon as six weeks after conception.
But the vote shook out 18-13 for the legislation as four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote against it. That means it likely wouldn’t have the 20-vote margin needed to override a threatened veto by Gov. John Kasich.
Due to two amendments clarifying that the law doesn’t require vaginal ultrasounds and allowing the state’s medical board to suspend a physician’s license on an emergency basis before being tried under the new law, the bill must go back to the House again before it hits Kasich’s desk.
House Bill 258, sponsored by Republican State Reps. Christina Hagan and Ron Hood, would make it a fifth-degree felony to administer an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can be as soon as six weeks after conception. The legislation doesn’t make exceptions for rape or incest, a fact opponents pointed to in order to illustrate their stance that the legislation is too extreme.
The bill passed the Ohio House 58-35 Nov. 15 — just shy of the 60-vote margin to protect it from a Kasich veto.
Proponents of the legislation cheered its passage by the state Senate.
Republican Sen. Bill Coley told media that he’s been cautious about bills this strict in the past, but that he believes that recent conservative additions to the U.S. Supreme Court could make the law legally viable.
Other lawmakers supporting the legislation said the bill protects the unborn.
“I question each and every time someone says (a fetus) wasn’t a baby because we know in our hearts that every abortion takes the life of an unborn child,” State Sen. Peggy Lehner told reporters at the capitol.
Opponents decried the potential restrictions and called on Kasich to veto the bill.
“Let’s be clear, the Ohio Senate just passed a total abortion ban,” ACLU of Ohio Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick said in a statement. “Yes, they’re packaging it as ‘six weeks,’ but in reality, most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at that time, and it will be impossible for them to access abortion when they find out. This last-minute legislative fiasco is not in the best interest of Ohio women and families and is the result of Ohio legislators who want to interfere with a woman’s constitutional right to choose. John Kasich has stated in the past that he plans to override this bill should it reach his desk and we urge him to remember that promise and follow through with a veto.”
If Kasich doesn’t veto it — or if it comes up again next year — the law could become part of a much larger battle around abortion access. Under the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, women have a right to abortion access prior to fetal viability, generally accepted to be the point at which a fetus can live outside the mother’s womb. But abortion opponents have argued — so far unsuccessfully — that a heartbeat should be the cutoff for terminating a pregnancy.
Recent federal court decisions have blocked laws that ban abortions simply because a heartbeat has been detected.
Kasich vetoed a heartbeat bill in 2016, saying it likely violated the U.S. Constitution under Roe v. Wade. Instead, Kasich signed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks.
In the years prior, Arkansas and North Dakota lost federal court battles over similar laws to the one currently before the Ohio House. In the Arkansas case, a federal appeals court struck down the law banning abortion after 12 weeks because it would “prevent a woman’s constitutional right to elect to have an abortion before viability.”
A federal court in North Dakota issued a similar ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up appeals from both states on the lower courts’ rulings.
But all that was prior to the election of President Donald Trump, who has appointed two conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court whom some experts say may be willing to overturn or significantly amend Roe v. Wade.
Past fights over the heartbeat bill in Ohio were also prior to the Nov. 6 election, when current Republican Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine won the governorship. DeWine has indicated he would sign a heartbeat bill when he takes office in January. In the meantime, it’s unclear if Kasich will veto the current legislation.
A similar law passed by the Iowa state legislature this summer is tied up in legal battles — ones that some of the measure’s supporters actually hope ends up with the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The science and technology have significantly advanced since 1973,” said Republican Iowa State Rep. Shannon Lundgren about the state’s law. “It is time for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of life. It has taken decades for the science to catch up to what many have believed all along: that she’s a baby.”
Supporters of Ohio’s bill have expressed similar sentiments.
“This legislation is aimed at the heart of Roe v. Wade,” Hagan said of an attempt to pass a heartbeat bill through Ohio’s House last year.
Democrats have blasted the bill.
“It’s shameful that Ohio Republicans continue to try to dictate, control and direct the lives of women and their families,” said Democratic State Rep. Catherine Ingram of Cincinnati in a statement after the legislation passed the Ohio House. “Women should be able to make their own healthcare decisions with their doctors, not politicians at the Ohio Statehouse.”
This article appears in Dec 12-19, 2018.
