Abortion restrictions tied to detection of a fetal heartbeat cleared the Ohio House in the last legislative session, but stalled in the senate. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Backers of a bill that would prohibit abortion in Ohio from the moment a fetal heartbeat can be detected know their proposal would face court challenges if enacted.
That, they say, is exactly what they want.
Several Republican members of the Ohio House, led by Reps. Christina Hagan of Alliance and Lynn Wachtmann of Napoleon, announced Thursday they will reintroduce the Ohio Human Heartbeat Protection Act. Hagan said 40 members have already agreed to be co-sponsors.
"We're ready to light the fire again and we're ready to go to battle and fight for what is most important in the world, and that is life," Hagan said. "We're not willing to take 'no' for an answer."
If enacted, the law would be among the most restrictive on abortion in the nation. And, they hope it is put to the test in court.
"Part of the reason for reintroducing the bill is we want to challenge the courts to take up this cause,"Wachtmann said. "Current laws upheld by the Supreme Court protect some babies, but not all babies."
Republicans pressed for similar legislation in the last session of the General Assembly. It was approved in the House in 2011, but it failed to win passage in the Senate before the session ended last December. Since then, other states have enacted fetal heartbeat laws, including Arkansas and one in North Dakota. Those states' laws both have been stayed by federal judges.
"We were able to ignite a passion in the nation, and recognition that there should be protection for a child at the point of a fetal heartbeat detection," Hagan said, praising Wachtmann for leading the charge on the last bill.
The bill passed by the House in 2011 was also designed to challenge the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortions until viability, generally thought to be at about 22 to 24 weeks.
It stalled in the Senate primarily because of the objections of lobbying heavyweight Ohio Right to Life, the state’s oldest anti-abortion group. Members worried that the bill couldn’t pass legal review and might cause other abortion restrictions to get thrown out as well.
Then-Senate President Thomas Niehaus made the decision to set the bill aside in November 2012. He said then he considered “a number of factors” in making his decision, including “constitutional concerns” that the so-called heartbeat bill might not survive a court challenge. But Hagan, and others, said Thursday they think the heartbeat bill can stand up to Supreme Court scrutiny.
I'm here today for the child with no voice to say there is viability where a fetal heartbeat can be detected," she said. "This is a sign of life. This is a medical standard that will give us a chance at winning in the courts."
Efforts to restrict abortion have been moving through state legislatures across the country. Janet Folger Porter, head of the anti-abortion group Faith2Action who joined legislators at Thursday's news conference, said heartbeat bills have been springing up across the country.
"We're seeing it spread like wildfire, but it really did start with the lighting of the match in Ohio," she said.
And it should be no surprise, she said, that legislators in Ohio are ready to try again. "Suffice to say, did you really think that we were going to give up?"
Ohio did include new restrictions meant to curb abortion in the state budget lawmakers approved and the governor signed in June. That budget bill included provisions that effectively defunded Planned Parenthood, which lawmakers have long targeted for providing abortion services to women; limited abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals; and forced women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound.
But those restrictions did not go nearly as far as the heartbeat bill, which certainly would be subject to court challenge. That, in fact, has already happened with similar laws, such as those from Arkansas and North Dakota.
In June, a federal judge blocked enforcement of a recently enacted law in North Dakota that would have banned most abortions, calling it “invalid and unconstitutional.” That law was set to take effect Aug. 1. With few exceptions, it would have barred abortion once a fetal heartbeat was detected.
In his opinion, Judge Daniel L. Hovland of the U.S. District Court in North Dakota said he had no choice but to block the law, describing it as a blatant violation of constitutional guarantees the court previously had afforded women.
A federal judge in May blocked enactment of an Arkansas law that would have barred abortions at 12 weeks of pregnancy. It, like North Dakota’s, was tied to detection of a fetal heartbeat.
Hagan acknowledged hearing some hesitancy from members of the Senate about this bill. But she said the time for waiting had passed, and urged constituents to pressure legislators to support the bill.
The bill could become part of the debate for the gubernatorial election if it clears the General Assembly. If it is to gain approval in the General Assembly, that won't likely happen until at least the fall, or perhaps even next year.
Gov. John Kasich describes himself as pro-life, and did approve the restrictions that were in the state budget. He declined to comment on the heartbeat proposal when asked about it Thursday.
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