Backer of Ohio 'heartbeat bill' wants to force vote

COLUMBUS (AP) — The chief advocate of a blocked Ohio bill that would impose the tightest abortion restriction in the nation vowed today to use a legislative maneuver to try to force a vote before year’s end despite the Senate president’s opposition.

Janet Folger Porter, president of the conservative action group Faith2Action, said she’ll work to collect 17 Republican signatures on a discharge petition, which can be used to force the so-called “heartbeat bill” out of a committee and onto the floor.

“Unless pro-lifers want to hold signs and march for 40 more years, they should pick up the phone and call every Republican senator and demand a floor vote for the Heartbeat Bill before their inaction kills it,” Porter said in a statement. “These Republicans have the power to bring the Heartbeat Bill to a vote before it dies.”

The bill proposed banning most abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Its backers hoped such a restriction would spark a legal challenge that could lead to overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion up until viability, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.