COLUMBUS – The Heartbeat law is now law in Ohio defining how Abortion can be performed in the State.
On April 11, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that he had signed Senate Bill 23, the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act, as passed by the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives.
Ohio Attorney General Yost issued the following statement, “Sometimes, the evolution of the law requires bold steps. In the last 46 years, the practice of medicine has changed. Science has changed. Even the point of viability has changed. Only the law has lagged behind. This law provides a stable, objective standard to guide the courts.”
The Ohio House voted 60-28 to approve the “Heartbeat bill” which bans abortions after the fetal heartbeat was detected, pushing the ban to as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
In 2019 a Federal US District Judge Michael Barrett has issued an order as of July 3rd to grant an injunction against the recently passed “Heartbeat” bill in Ohio. The bill had not yet gone into effect and the measure delayed enforcement of the bill.
The federal judge from Cincinnati stated that the injunction is based on Supreme Court precedent, basing the 12-page injunction on 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey regarding undue burdens on women seeking an abortion. The 5-4 decision majority decision held up Roe v. Wade in 1992 but defined the arguments involving undue burden.
Yesterday the Supreme court ended constitutional protections for abortion in a ruling Friday, and Attorney General Dave Yost stated almost immediately that Ohio’s heartbeat bill has now become law in the state.
A judge ruled in Yost‘s favor after his office filed a motion in federal court to dissolve the injunction against the law after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
