A bill that would ban all abortions in Ohio — even in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother — was introduced last week.
House Bill 565 would make an "unborn human" a person under Ohio's criminal code regarding murder, manslaughter, and homicide and allows wrongful death lawsuits, according to Cleveland.com.
Additionally, a pregnant woman seeking an abortion could be charged with a crime.
Two Ohio House Republicans introduced the bill, and 18 others co-sponsored the bill.
"I believe life begins at conception, so the goal of this bill is to first of all continue to get the word out that life does begin at conception and move the debate in that direction, and to protect unborn Ohioans from being aborted," Rep. Ron Hood, R-Ashville and a bill sponsor, told Cleveland.com.
Rep. Nino Vitale, R-Urbana and a joint sponsor of the bill, said “many women who get pregnant from rape later regret their decision to abort.”
"Life isn't always giving us things by our choice, and I don't want to put a woman through a second trauma after she's been through such an awful first one," Vitale told Cleveland.com.
Some abortion opponents hope the bill would cause the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reconsider some previous decisions that legalized abortions.
Previously, Republican Gov. John Kasich vetoed the "heartbeat bill," saying it would have likely been found unconstitutional. He instead signed a 20-week ban on abortions, according to Cleveland.com. Additionally, Ohio lawmakers have passed 20 abortion restrictions since 2011.
In December, representatives introduced a bill that would have banned abortions after a fetus was diagnosed with Down syndrome. That bill, however, was deemed unconstitutional last week.
