Thread: Ohio governor bans abortions after 20 weeks while vetoing 'heartbeat' bill

(CNN)Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed a measure that would have outlawed abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected while approving a law that prevents them after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The vetoed proposal, commonly referred to as the "heartbeat bill," would have been the nation's strictest time-based legislation, banning abortions around six weeks.

But abortion rights advocates said the 20-week ban is troubling on its own, the latest abortion restriction passed under Kasich's watch.

Pro-life advocates, meanwhile, welcomed the decisions as a step closer to challenging Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

A veto 'in the public interest'

Current state law, which Kasich signed in 2011, forbids abortions after 24 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest and the mother's life. Abortions beginning at 20 weeks' gestation require a doctor's finding that the fetus is not viable. The new regulations, which take effect in 90 days, make it a fourth-degree felony for doctors to perform abortions after 20 weeks except in cases where the woman's life is in danger.

Kasich said he vetoed the heartbeat amendment to avoid lengthy and costly litigation that was likely to end in defeat, based on recent case law. Similar measures passed in Arkansas and North Dakota were found to unconstitutional in federal court, he noted in his veto message. Provisions of the heartbeat bill were "clearly contrary" to the Supreme Court's current rulings on abortion.

"Such a defeat invites additional challenges to Ohio's strong legal protections for unborn life," he wrote. "Therefore, this veto is in the public interest..."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/politi...eto/index.html

"Such a defeat invites additional challenges to Ohio's strong legal protections for unborn life," he wrote. "Therefore, this veto is in the public interest..."

What about the interest of the unborn?

I had one miscarriage at 17 weeks. Absolutely everything was precious and beautiful on that little girl. I could even see that she was going to look like her Daddy. It breaks my heart to think that someone would want to deliberately kill that precious baby.

Pro-lifers urge legislators to override veto of Ohio bill banning abortion from first heartbeat

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 15, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — A powerful coalition of Ohio pro-life organizations is calling on the Ohio House and Senate to come back in session and override Gov. Kasich's veto of the Heartbeat Bill.

The Right to Life Societies of Cleveland, Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Lake County, Geauga County, Hancock County, Clermont County, Warren County, Lima and Allen County, and Tiffin, as well as Fostoria/Bascom Life, HELP Pro Life Apostolate, Northeast Ohio Value Voters, and What's Left/What's Right Ministries signed a public letter to Ohio Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger urging him to call the legislature together for an override vote.

"This is a call to action," Cleveland Right to Life president Molly Smith told LifeSiteNews. "If this bill can save 20,000 babies a year, it's worth fighting for..."

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/br...o-bill-banning