Ohio Senate Approves "Heart Beat Bill" Abortion Ban as Part of Unrelated Bill

[lynn82md.livejournal.com]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Senators, mostly along party lines, voted Tuesday to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.

Republican lawmakers inserted the anti-abortion "heartbeat bill" language at the last minute into a bill revising state child abuse and neglect laws. The bill previously cleared the House, so it will not receive additional hearings.

The House is expected to vote on the bill Tuesday night. If signed by Gov. John Kasich, the legislation would make Ohio's abortion laws the most restrictive in the nation. But the bill has split abortion foes.

Critics, including Ohio Right to Life, have long said they're sympathetic to the effort, but assert it would not survive a constitutional challenge.

For that reason, the Senate previously declined to act on the heartbeat bill. Senate President Keith Faber told reporters numerous times that the legislation would be found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

What changed for Faber?

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Roe vs. Wade May Be Doomed. Dark Days Ahead for Reproductive Rights

[lynn82md.livejournal.com]

The Supreme Court was something of an under-the-radar issue in the 2016 campaign, extremely important to some groups (especially white evangelicals), but not discussed all that much on a national level. But now that Donald Trump has been elected, and with the success of the GOP’s only-Republican-presidents-are-allowed-to-fill-vacancies strategy, it will be of tremendous importance to the country’s future.

No issue will be more volatile than abortion, which raises the inevitable question: Is Roe v. Wade doomed?

That question is coming up again in the wake of the Ohio legislature’s shocking decision to pass a ban on abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is usually about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women even know they’re pregnant. Under current jurisprudence, this ban is almost certainly unconstitutional. But maybe by the time it reaches the Supreme Court, it won’t be.

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