Ohio's House of Representatives, which is dominated by Republicans, and the Senate recently passed a legislation dubbed to be the most extreme abortion restriction ever suggested in the United States. The legislation bans to perform an abortion at six weeks period when the fetus' heart starts to beat and victims of rape or incest are not exempted.
Once the law is approved, doctors can be imprisoned if they missed on following the protocol of checking the age of the fetus in a woman's womb that is subject to the abortion procedure. However, the legislation did not come without any criticisms.
Ohio's recently passed abortion law was criticized as extreme. The reason? Pro-abortion rights advocates explained that females normally won't know yet if they are pregnant at the point of conception.
Dawn Laguens, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, doubted the motives of the legislation. She said that it looks like the ultimate goal is to totally ban abortion.
Ohio lawmakers struggled to pass the "heartbeat bill" since 2011. But some activists are worried that the extremity can be unconstitutional, which can empower courts to be biased on minor abortion restrictions.
It is observed that the Supreme Court refuses to look into Arkansas' 12-week abortion passed earlier that is blocked by lower courts. The high court ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973 says that states do not have the right to favor legislations that prohibit abortions before the fetus can be detected, which is usually around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, says Huffington Post.
Republicans felt obliged to push the bill because President-elect Donald Trump is noted to appoint anti-abortion conservatives to the Supreme Court. Certainly, when a new leader and Supreme Court officials are in place, major changes can happen.
With that said, they were able to move ahead only when they attained consensus in their caucus, explains Ohio Senate President Keith Faber. Meanwhile, Gov. John Kasich has yet to issue any statement whether he is in favor of the "Heartbeat Bill" bill or not.
Ohio's abortion bill was passed on Tuesday. It should reportedly reach Faber's table anytime soon for his signature, according to CNN.
