OHIO – The Ohio House passed the the Abortion Bill 59-35 on November 15, now it will move on to the Senate.
This proposal would ban abortions in Ohio after the first heartbeat is detected. According to Med.com fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks old.
Heart beat bill clears Ohio House 58-35. Not a veto-proof margin. pic.twitter.com/lE9i4PRgUO
— Laura Bischoff (@lbischoff) November 15, 2018
According to AP press Governor Kasik has vetoed a bill like this before calling it unconstitutional.
The heartbeat bill now goes to the Ohio Senate. Gov. John Kasich vetoed it in 2016 and says he would do it again. The Ohio Legislature has enough votes to override the veto, however, and also Governor-elect Mike DeWine says he would sign the bill into law.https://t.co/qjhFc39D7d
— Andrea González-Ramírez (@andreagonram) November 15, 2018
Today December 20th Kasich did what he said he would do and vetoed the bill again. In a statement explaining the veto Governor Kasich said the bill’s provisions are contrary to current Supreme Court rulings on abortion and would likely be struck down by the courts.
Here is the full statement:
STATEMENT OF THE REASONS FOR THE VETO OF SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 258
December 21, 2018
Pursuant to Article H, Section 16, of the Ohio Constitution, which states that the Governor may disapprove of any bill, I hereby disapprove of Substitute House Bill 258 (Sub. H.B. 258) and set forth the following reasons for so doing.
As governor I have worked hard to strengthen Ohio’s protections for the sanctity of human life, and I have a deep respect for my fellow members of the pro-life community and their ongoing efforts in defense of unborn life. However, the central provision of Sub. H.B. 258, that an abortion cannot be performed if a heartbeat has been detected in the unborn child, is contrary to the Supreme Court of the United States’ current rulings on abortion. Because the lower federal courts are bound to follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedents on abortion, Sub. H.B. 258 will likely be struck down as unconstitutional. The State of Ohio will be the losing party in that lawsuit and, as the losing party, the State of Ohio will be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to cover the legal fees for the pro-choice activists’ lawyers. Therefore, this veto is in the public interest.
In a statement posted on NARAL Pro-CHoice Ohio facebook,
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “John Kasich is reckless and irresponsible. He has now enacted 21 attacks on abortion access and reproductive health care funding during his eight years as governor. He has ignored pleas from Ohio’s medical community that politicians should not interfere with the doctor-patient relationship or block access to abortion care in our state. As a result of Kasich’s barrage of laws that criminalize doctors, many of the best and brightest medical providers have left Ohio, with still more deciding not to come here in the first place. Kasich’s actions today are his worst yet.”
