Ohio Is One Step Closer To A Heartbeat Bill To Protect The Unborn

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Dec 13, 2018
This photo taken June 5, 2012, outside the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, shows a large balloon in support of the Heartbeat Bill. An Ohio bill that would have imposed the most stringent restriction on abortions in the nation met its end Tuesday. Senators don’t plan to vote on the so-called “heartbeat bill” before the end of the legislative session next month, Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus said, citing concerns the resulting law might have been found to be unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Ann Sanner)

The Ohio state Senate recently passed the pro-life bill 18 to 13 that would make it illegal to perform abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

The state Senate approved House Bill 258 only after the addition of a few amendments that would allow for abortions be performed later in pregnancy. The original bill proposed that abortion be illegal after fetal heartbeat is detected with a transvaginal ultrasound, which is about 6 weeks. “However, senators changed the bill to clarify that transvaginal ultrasounds weren’t required and that other forms of heartbeat detection technology could be used. In abdominal ultrasounds, the other common imaging technology, heartbeats are detected at around 12 weeks”, according to Cleveland.com.

The state House now has to approve the final version and it is expected to pass. While Governor John Kasich says he will veto the heartbeat bill, the potential for a veto override by the state legislature is unsure. Fortunately, if Kasich vetos the bill, “Gov.-elect Mike DeWine, who takes office in January, said he would sign it”, stated LifeNews.

Of course, pro-death advocates are labeling the bill as “dangerous” (interesting word choice) for women’s reproductive rights. Ohio NARAL Deputy Director, Jamie Miracle says, “it lacks safeguards to make sure pregnant women have options to protect their health due to the standard put forth in the bill” as reported by Statehouse News. Where the safeguard is for the baby in utero, Miracle couldn’t care less.

This proposed bill comes after 9 other states proposed the same bill with Iowa having the strictest abortion laws in the nation. Making it illegal to have an abortion after 6 weeks, when a heartbeat can be detected, many states have attempted to follow Iowa’s lead on the sanctity of life.

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