COLUMBUS – Hearings are underway in the Statehouse on a controversial “heartbeat bill,” which is making its third journey through the General Assembly.
Companion bills in the House and Senate would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.
The Senate Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee heard testimony from both sides of the issue.
Stephanie Craddock Sherwood, executive director of Women Have Options-Ohio, which funds abortion care, told the panel that medical complications, drug addiction, job loss, incest and sexual abuse are among the reasons a woman seeks to end a pregnancy.
“Plain and simple, abortion bans are dangerous, out of touch with the real-lived experiences of these folks. And this bill won’t change the need for abortion access; it only works to set up roadblocks to those who need it most,” she said.
Supporters argue the legislation would protect the most vulnerable by establishing a clear standard to determine when life deserves protection.
Ohio Right to Life did not support past heartbeat bills, but is changing its stance, hoping that two new U.S. Supreme Court justices who’ve stated anti-abortion views increase the bill’s chance of surviving a court challenge.
“In most medical situations, a heartbeat indicates the presence of life. There is no reason that, in the situation of whether a fetus deserves the right to life or not, that a heartbeat should not be recognized as a presence of life,” the organization’s director of legislative affairs, Jessica Warner, told lawmakers during proponent testimony last week.
Arkansas, Iowa and North Dakota passed similar bans that have since been struck down in court.