Lawmakers in the Ohio House are once again seeking to make Ohio’s abortion laws among the strictest in the nation.
Republican Reps. Christina Hagan of Alliance and Ron Hood of Ashville introduced the “heartbeat bill” on Tuesday with 48 co-sponsors, including Marion’s two representatives, Jeff McClain and Dorothy Pelanda. House Bill 69 would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected — as early as six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy.
Violating the ban would be a fifth-degree felony for the physician who performed the abortion, punishable with up to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. The bill exempts physicians who perform abortions 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,” which must then be documented.
Similar bills have failed in the past two general assemblies and have been put on hold by courts in the two states that have passed the law — North Dakota and Arkansas.
If passed in Ohio, abortion-rights advocates say the bill would immediately trigger a court challenge that would result in the law being struck down as unconstitutional.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio President and CEO Stephanie Kight said the bill is “bad law and bad medicine” and legislators should expand access to health care instead of restricting it.
The state’s largest anti-abortion organization, Ohio Right to Life, did not support previous versions of the bill because it said it would be struck down as unconstitutional. Ohio Right to Life is pushing a 20-week abortion ban as part of its legislative priorities this year.
In 2011, the House passed a heartbeat bill but the Senate declined to vote on it before the end of the two-year legislative session. In 2014, the House did not have enough votes to pass the bill on the floor. Gov. John Kasich said he had concerns about the bill.
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