House passes 'heartbeat bill'

By Marc Kovac | March 26, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

COLUMBUS

The Ohio House passed controversial legislation Wednesday that would ban abortions within weeks of conception.

The 55-40 vote sends the Heartbeat Bill to the state Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

The legislation would “generally prohibit an abortion of an unborn human individual with a detectable heartbeat” and create a new legislative panel to further study ways to support and promote adoptions.

Proponents believe the legislation could serve as the vehicle to overturn Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

“In the United States, there are over 3,000 abortions occurring per day,” said Rep. Christina Hagan, R-Alliance, primary co-sponsor of the legislation. “If any other cause of death had numbers this sobering, the Legislature would halt all other activity to focus on the epidemic at hand.”

But opponents say the bill is a further intrusion into women’s health decisions, and some abortion opponents are concerned it could lead to court decisions undoing other abortion restrictions in current state law.

“The six-week abortion ban is a clear strategy to ban abortion entirely and advance an unpopular agenda,” said Rep. Stephanie Howse, D-Cleveland. “People trust women to make the most-important decisions when, where and how to have families without political interference.”

Rep. Greta Johnson, D-Akron, said the bill is unconstitutional.

“By supporting this, you are turning your back on your oath ...,” she said. “You took an oath to uphold the Constitution. ... I stand here today with a wire coat hanger on my desk because that is the option. Passing this bill won’t make it go away. Passing this bill will make it dangerous.”

The Heartbeat Bill has been offered in three-consecutive sessions of the General Assembly. The first time, it passed the House but stalled in the Senate. The second time, late last year, the bill failed to gain the required support to move it further.

Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said the bill would be assigned to a committee in his chamber and considered.