COLUMBUS – A bill banning abortions in Ohio once a fetal heartbeat is detected is headed to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has said he plans to sign it.
The bill cleared its final hurdle Wednesday when the Ohio Senate agreed to House changes 18-13. The Ohio House had approved the measure 56-39 earlier in the day.o
Opponents vow to sue.
DeWine took office in January. Backers hope he will be true to his word and sign the bill twice vetoed by his predecessor, Republican John Kasich.
Ohio joins five other states that have passed such restrictive abortion measures. A fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as five or six weeks into pregnancy, before many women even find out they’re pregnant.
The bill makes no exceptions for rape or incest.
No topic seemed off limits, including tales of back alleys and coat hangers, as abortion-rights supporters in Ohio fought the bill.
After nearly 10 years of battling, Democrats let loose during run-up to final House and Senate approval Wednesday with lessons from slavery, predictions of economic harm, references to the book of Genesis, and testimonials about their own rapes. Faith groups brandished banners and made pleas for religious tolerance. An advocate for reproductive rights threatened Republicans with the loss of young voters’ support in 2020.
House Health Committee Chairman Derek Merrin, whose panel had cleared the way for the floor by approving the bill in an 11-7 party line vote Tuesday, criticized those who say abortion drives down health care costs.
His conscience, he said, tells him abortion is wrong.
“My heart, Mr. Speaker, tells me it’s wrong. My understanding of the law and of the constitution tells me it’s wrong. And in the spirit of fairness, equality, and justice, I know it’s wrong,” Merrin said.
Prohibiting abortions at the first detectable heartbeat means prohibiting virtually all abortions, said Dr. Michael Cackovic, a specialist in maternal fetal medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center. He said current standard practice, which involves transvaginal ultrasound, can reliably detect a heartbeat five to six weeks into pregnancy.
“Essentially, that’s three to four weeks after conception, or one to two weeks after a missed period,” he said.
State Rep. Beth Liston, a Dublin Democrat and a pediatrician, said proponents’ hopes of challenging the viability standard upheld in the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision aren’t grounded in science. She said she favors the idea from Genesis that breath begins life.
“Simply put, you need lungs and a brain to live, and there’s no technology in the world that will change that,” she said.
The earliest bans on heartbeat abortion, in Iowa and North Carolina, have been blocked by the courts. Three more states — Mississippi, Kentucky and Georgia — have more recently passed bills amid growing national momentum. The Georgia bill has not yet been signed by the governor.