Ohio House to vote today on 3-abortion related bills

COLUMBUS (AP) — A bill that would impose the strictest abortion limits in the nation was headed for a vote today by the Ohio House, even as abortion-rights supporters and one leading anti-abortion group raised concerns about the measure.

The legislation would ban abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, which occurs sometimes as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It was one of three abortion-related bills the Republican-led House was scheduled to vote.

If enacted into law, supporters of the so-called heartbeat bill hope to provoke a legal challenge and overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States. The court then upheld a woman’s right to an abortion until the fetus is viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.

The heartbeat measure passed out of a legislative committee in March after several crowded hearings. At one hearing, ultrasounds were performed on two women who were early in their pregnancies, so legislators could see and hear the fetal hearts.