Abortion opponents in Ohio plan to reintroduce a proposal to effectively ban the procedure after the first fetal heartbeat is detected, sometimes as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
State Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, the previous sponsor of the bill, told the Associated Press that he and others will announce plans to reintroduce the so-called heartbeat bill at a news conference today.
About 40 of the 99 Ohio House members have signed onto the bill as co-sponsors, said Wachtmann, a Republican from Napoleon who chairs the House Health and Aging Committee.
The abortion measure failed last year after then-president of the Senate Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, blocked it from a vote. He has since retired because of term limits.
The measure had fiercely divided Ohio’s anti-abortion community, with some fearing a court challenge could undo other abortion restrictions already in place. It also energized abortion-rights groups, who rallied against it.
Wachtmann acknowledged in an interview yesterday that he expects the bill to face obstacles. Still, he said, he wants to give it another shot.
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