COLUMBUS — The Ohio House on Thursday voted 59-35, largely along party lines, to all but prohibit an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detectable, as early as five to six weeks.
The highly controversial bill would require a doctor to test for a heartbeat and would in most cases make it a fifth-degree felony, punishable by up to a year in prison, to proceed with an abortion after that point.
The bill provides exceptions for medical emergencies or if the procedure is performed to save the patient’s life or to prevent irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest.
“We all have a beating heart,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Christina Hagan (R., Alliance), as she held her newborn twins on the House floor.
“This General Assembly has an interest in extending protections to children in utero for beating hearts,” she said. “It’s time we stop talking about the status of who deserves protection from the state and who doesn’t. It’s time we stop talking about constitutionality before we start talking about what the right thing to do is. … This time is now.”
Versions of the Heartbeat Bill have passed in North Dakota, Iowa, and Arkansas, and all were blocked by federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 refused to hear North Dakota’s appeal, letting a lower ruling strike down the law to stand.
“In most pregnancies, a fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks of gestation, but often it’s the case that a woman doesn’t even know she’s pregnant until after six weeks have lapsed,” Rep. Nickie Antonio (D., Lakewood) said.
“This is especially true of women who are emotionally traumatized by rape,” she said. “Many can’t anticipate a pregnancy arising from the crime against them. They’re still dealing with the trauma of being assaulted.”
She said the bill would unfairly force victims of rape to carry their rapist’s child to term or bring a product of incest into the home that led to the pregnancy in the first place.
House Bill 258 was reported out of committee and has been in position for a full chamber vote for nearly a year, but the Republican majority waited until after the Nov. 6 election to bring it to a vote. It now goes to the Senate, which passed a similar bill two years ago.
Although Governor-elect Mike DeWine, Ohio’s current attorney general, has said he would sign such a bill, lawmakers are not waiting for him to take office in January. Instead, they are moving toward putting Gov. John Kasich, a fellow Republican, in the position of vetoing the measure again and then leaving themselves enough time to come back before session’s end to attempt an override.
However, it would take one more vote than Thursday’s “yes” votes to override the governor’s veto.
“I wouldn’t assume that we don’t have a veto-proof majority,” House Speaker Ryan Smith (R., Gallipolis) said. “I think 59 votes is where we ended at. A few people absent. There’s two more steps to this process before we get to that point. Let’s see what the Senate does and what the governor does.”
Under the bill, a patient seeking an abortion would not be held criminally liable and the bill would even allow her to be awarded court costs and attorney fees if she later succeeds in a civil wrongful death action against the doctor. The State Medical Board could also take disciplinary action against such a doctor.
The bill would also create the Joint Legislative Committee on Adoption and Support, consisting of three lawmakers from each chamber, to help promote adoption options.
Seven Republicans broke ranks to oppose the bill while Rep. Bill Patmon (D., Cleveland) cast the sole Democratic “yes” vote.
The only Republican from northwest Ohio to vote “no” was Rep. Steve Arndt (R., Port Clinton), joining the two local Democrats present, Reps. Mike Sheehy (D., Oregon) and Michael Ashford (D., Toledo). Rep. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo) was absent.
Although he generally supports anti-abortion efforts, Mr. Kasich vetoed a Heartbeat Bill following lame-duck session in 2016 while signing a competing measure to block most abortions after 20 weeks, down from about 24 weeks under prior law.
He cited concerns about the constitutionality of the Heartbeat Bill. The issue had divided the pro-life community with Ohio Right to Life concerned it could be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, potentially dragging down with it other gains the movement has made in recent years.
Backers of the bill, however, have made no secret they want to use it to give the nation’s high court a vehicle to overturn or undermine Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that recognized abortion as an extension of the constitutional right to privacy.
And that was before President Trump’s appointment of conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the bench, replacing retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, the frequent swing vote on social issues like abortion.
“We are neutral on the Heartbeat Bill concept and have been for several years now,” said Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis. “The court has changed…There may be more opportunities to advance pro-life legislation through the U.S. Supreme Court. The question is: Is the Heartbeat Bill the best version of that?”
Iris E. Harvey, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, said the bill represents a continuation of the House’s “ideological crusade.”
“This legislation criminalizes physicians from providing critical care to tens of thousands of patients who need it,” she said. “Women should be trusted and respected to make their own health care decisions, period. Once again, this bill highlights the concerning priorities of this legislature.”
First Published November 15, 2018, 9:31 p.m.
