Banning abortions after 20 weeks and for fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome are among the bills Ohio’s largest anti-abortion organization plans to push this year.
Ohio Right to Life and a handful of state lawmakers on Tuesday announced six legislative priorities, including a 20-week abortion ban. The organization counts 13 anti-abortion legislative victories in the past four years.
“We know that what we’re doing is making a difference — in that same time period in our state over the last four years the number of abortions has dropped by 18 percent,” Ohio Right to Life Executive Director Stephanie Krider said at a news conference.
Ohio Right to Life did not support the “heartbeat bill,” which would have banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, because it believed it would have been struck down by the courts. Instead, the organization supports an “incremental approach” of making abortions more difficult to obtain in Ohio.
“Pain-capable Abortion Ban”
Rep. Kristina Roegner, a Hudson Republican, and Sen. Peggy Lehner, a Kettering Republican, plan to introduce companion bills that would ban abortions after 20 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, when anti-abortion advocates believe the fetus can feel pain. A 2011 Ohio law prohibits abortions after 24 weeks or when the fetus has become viable, which physicians determine by tests when women seek abortions after 20 weeks.
Krider said 173 abortions were performed in Ohio between 20 and 24 weeks of gestation in 2013.
Gabriel Mann, spokesman for abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said a pre-viability, 20-week ban would be just as unconstitutional as the heartbeat bill because the Supreme Court ruled viability the standard.
Roe v. Wade trigger clause
This legislation would prohibit all abortions except those necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life but would not take effect unless the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade decision. If overturned today, Ohio women could still receive abortions until 24 weeks in their pregnancies.
Krider said four other states have passed such language and six other states have pre-Roe provisions that stand in law.
Banning abortions of Down syndrome fetuses
This bill would prohibit abortions on fetuses once they are diagnosed with Down syndrome. Abortion rates after learning of a possible Down syndrome diagnosis range from 61 to 93 percent, according to a 2012 survey of abortion studies published in the journal Prenatal Diagnosis.
Reducing chemical abortions
This legislation would require abortion providers to follow FDA guidelines when providing medication to induce abortion. Krider said the change would reduce the number of chemical abortions to only those using the drug RU-486, which state law already dictates can only be used during the first seven weeks of pregnancy.
Defunding Planned Parenthood, more funding for crisis pregnancy centers
Ohio Right to Life supported measures in the last budget that put Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions in some of its centers, at the end of the line for some federal family planning dollars. Anti-abortion advocates want to block Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving state grants intended to reduce infant mortality.
Ohio Right to Life plans to lobby for more federal TANF dollars for pregnancy crisis centers. These centers, which do not advise women about abortions, have been criticized for not offering accurate or complete medical advice.
Planned Parenthood operates two of the state’s 14 infant mortality reduction initiative – one each in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The programs work with African-American women throughout their pregnancy, connecting her to prenatal care and other resources, and until the child is 2 years old. Planned Parenthood receives about $300,000 annually from the state-funded initiative.
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