COLUMBUS — One of the top priorities of state Senate Republicans will be to get to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk a bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions in Ohio once a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
Senate President Larry Obhof (R., Medina) said the new legislative session will also move forward on efforts to protect Lake Erie from nutrient runoff and overhaul criminal sentencing to help former inmates re-enter society and seek treatment for substance abuse.
Republicans control the Senate by a super-majority of 24-9, so they set the priorities for the chamber.
“As a conservative caucus, we are going to focus on protecting and preserving innocent life,” Mr. Obhof said. “That will include the Heartbeat Bill as one of our priorities. That will include the legislation previously sponsored by Sen. [Joe] Uecker dealing with the disposal of fetal remains.”
House Speaker Larry Householder (R., Glenford) recently punted to the Senate to act first on the Heartbeat Bill after several sessions in which the House led the way.
“It will not be one of our top agenda items in the House, but it will be something that members will want to do, and we will do it, but I think it has to start in the Senate,” he said.
Bills have already been introduced in both chambers. They would require doctors to test for a fetal heartbeat and, with few exceptions, would prohibit an abortion if one is detected, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
For the first time, it appears that various factions of the anti-abortion rights movement have united in support of the bill now that President Trump’s appointment of Justice Brent Kavanaugh is believed to have shifted the U.S. Supreme Court further to the right.
Gov. DeWine has said he would sign it after his predecessor and fellow Republican, Gov. John Kasich, vetoed it for a second time late last year as he questioned its constitutionality.
At the same time, Mr. Kasich signed another law that prohibits dilation and evacuation, the most common surgical abortion procedure used during the second trimester. That law is slated to take effect late next month but will likely face a court challenge.
“We are going to work tirelessly in the Senate,” Ohio Right to Life President Michael Gonidakis said. “I’ve met with the Speaker of the House. He’s eager to get the bill from the Senate. This will be the first pro-life bill the governor gets. He’ll sign it, hopefully in April.”
Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, accused lawmakers of inserting themselves into a woman’s personal medical decisions.
“Their interference is not needed or wanted,” she said. “Ohio politicians should stop criminalizing abortion care and get busy passing paid maternity leave and expanding access to quality affordable health care.”
With Mr. Kasich’s prior efforts to force greater regulation of farms in most of the Maumee River watershed now on hold, state Sens. Bob Peterson (R., Sabina) and Matt Dolan (R. Chagrin Falls) are holding discussions with farmers, researchers, sporting businesses, and environmental groups to try to fashion a plan to address agricultural fertilizer runoff that feeds toxic algal growth each summer on Lake Erie.
On the table is a proposed $1 billion bond issue — $100 million a year for 10 years — to help farmers invest in equipment and practices to reduce fertilizer use and keep what is applied on the fields.
“There’s a broad group of people who have been getting together, all ideas in the room,” said Mr. Peterson, a southwest Ohio farmer. “The bond issue is certainly one piece of that, potentially. We’re working with the administration … to see if our goals align.”
Mr. Obhof said the chamber is working with Sen. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo) on issues related to human trafficking. She announced this week reintroduction of her bill to rid Ohio’s criminal justice system of its practice of treating 16 and 17-year-old victims differently than younger minors.
Going into debate on the next two-year budget that must be passed by July 1, Mr. Obhof said the caucus wants to put an additional $100 million into construction and renovation aid for school districts, beef up security for Ohio’s elections system against cyber threats, and reduce by 30 percent what he characterized as unnecessary regulatory restrictions on personal liberty and obstacles to business growth.
First Published February 12, 2019, 5:18 p.m.
