Ohio State legislature will see six bills concerning regulations for abortion.
Ohio pro-life groups are pushing for legislation that would put the state among the strictest in the nation in terms of abortion regulation.
Ohio Right to Life Society and Faith2Action have both introduced bills at the statehouse that would reduce the time-frame during which a woman is legally allowed to receive an abortion.
If passed, these measures could “sign Ohio up for a costly court date,” said Gabriel Mann, communications manager for NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.
In total, Ohio Right to Life has proposed six bills for this legislative year, including laws that would defund Planned Parenthood and ban the abortions of children determined to have Down syndrome.
The bills were sponsored by Rep. Kristina Roegnor (R-Hudson) in the House and State Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Dayton) in the Senate.
“We think this is a step in the right direction,” said Katherine Franklin, communication director at Ohio Right to Life.
The proposed legislation would also prevent a woman from receiving an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which Franklin said is the number of weeks it takes for a fetus to feel pain.
The current law, under Roe v. Wade, prevents states from prohibiting abortions before 24 weeks, which is when the fetus is considered “viable” or able to live outside the womb.
Franklin called this bill a “more palatable” alternative to the “heartbeat bill,” which was proposed by Faith2Action twice before — once in 2011 and once last year.
That bill, co-sponsored by 50 members of the House, would prevent abortion after six weeks when a heartbeat can first be detected.
Janet Porter, the president of Faith2Action, said this would prevent nearly 20,000 abortions every year.
“That’s basically a stadium full of babies with heart beats,” she said.
North Dakota’s legislature passed a similar bill in 2013, only to have it overturned by the Supreme Court nearly a year later.
Porter said she wasn’t too concerned about possible legal ramifications of this bill.
“Our goal is to get this to the Supreme Court,” she said.
Although the bill failed to pass the state legislature in the past, Porter said she is optimistic about this year.
“When you’ve got more than half the house (supporting pro-life), you have a pretty good chance,” she said. “We’ve shored up support up front.”
Franklin said she is also expecting Ohio Right to Life’s proposals to find their way to the Supreme Court if they pass, but she thinks those proposals will be more successful than the heartbeat bill.
“We’ve already received an outpouring of support, so we think time is right,” she said.
She added that overthrowing Roe v. Wade would not completely prevent abortions.
But Mann said all of these proposals could potentially be dangerous to women in Ohio.
“This would be a huge threat,” he said. “If for any reason Ohio did ban abortions, it would push women to pursue unsafe operations.”
He also said he was concerned about what affects the defunding of Planned Parenthood might have.
North Dakota only had one abortion clinic in the entire state when it passed its six-week legislation.
Mann said there is added strain in poorer areas, such as Southeast Ohio, when the availability of abortion clinics is low.
In addition to the cost of driving to the clinic, some states require two-day wait periods before an abortion, requiring people to miss work and find lodging if they are coming from far away.
The Planned Parenthood in Athens does not offer abortions.
“We’re asking our supporters to contact their legislators just to justify the unconstitutionality (of these bills),” he said.
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