Ohio continues protecting babies with passage of “heartbeat bill”

Ohio is leading the pack in protecting the rights of the unborn as the state legislature just approved what’s known as the “heartbeat bill” — one of the nation’s toughest laws to stop abortionists in their tracks.

The reason the bill gets that nickname is because it bans abortions once a heartbeat is detected, which begins to appear at just six weeks into a pregnancy. The bill was debated for over 90 minutes, according to KRMG News, with Republicans and Democrats split right along party lines. The final vote in favor was 56-39.

Now the bill is headed to Gov. John Kasich’s desk for approval or veto. His press secretary, who is a member of Ohio Right to Life, didn’t state Kasich’s intention but said, “The governor believes in the sanctity of human life and has a strong, consistent pro-life record.”

Republicans were happy with the outcome. State Rep. Niraj Antani had this reaction:

“This bill has been a priority of the pro-life community for a long time, and I’m happy to see it finally go to the governor’s desk. I believe it will protect the innocent lives of thousands in Ohio.”

However, Democrats said this isn’t the time or place for government intrusion and warned that costly litigation could be ahead for taxpayers as the bill will be challenged constitutionally and because it doesn’t have an exception for incest or rape.

And of course NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio called the bill unconstitutional, using watered down language like “end a pregnancy” to make the horrible deed go down easier:

“Once a woman has made the decision to end a pregnancy, she needs access to safe, legal health care in her community. This bill would effectively outlaw abortion and criminalize physicians that provide this care to their patients. One in three women choose to have an abortion in their lifetime, and seven in 10 Americans support legal access to abortion care. Banning women from getting a medical procedure is out of touch with Ohio values and is completely unacceptable.”

Don’t you love how they say protecting human life is “out of touch” with moral values?

Tell that to Ohioans:

Fewer abortions were performed in Ohio in 2015 than at any time since the state began keeping records in 1976, according to an Ohio Department of Health report. The report shows that the steady decline that has been occurring over the past 15 years continued in 2015, with a slight drop to 20,976 abortions reported in the state. Last year, 52 percent of the terminations occurred at nine weeks or less gestation.

So, imagine that. If this bill is signed into law, tens of thousands of children will get a chance to live. And that’s just the heartbeat bill. Another one is in the works that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of gestation.

Ohio is serious about the right to life.