Ohio Heartbeat Bill gets CPR
Huffington Post is reporting today that two Ohio pro-life groups that have been bitterly divided about a pro-life bill may be working together on a compromise.
This is fabulous news, if true, and it appears it is.
I called Janet Porter, who leads Faith2Action, the group behind what is known as the “Heartbeat Bill,” legislation that would protect Ohio babies from abortion after a heartbeat can be detected – as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
I asked Janet whether it was true she is now working with Ohio Right to Life on a compromise bill.
“We’re talking to everybody who will protect babies with beating hearts,” she responded. “There is talk of a compromise bill, but nothing is final yet.”
To me, that was a yes. A blurb on the F2A’s website, right, also indicates something is in the air.
Expect more news next week. Here’s the germane excerpt from HuffPo:
The so-called “heartbeat bill,” which could prevent a woman from having an abortion before she even realizes she’s pregnant, has been stalled in the Ohio state Senate since June 2011 largely because a major anti-abortion group refused to support it. Mike Gonidakis, executive director of Ohio Right to Life, told the Columbus Dispatch in March of 2011 that the bill was so extreme that it could backfire and prompt the Supreme Court to reaffirm Roe v. Wade.
But Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Thursday that the Senate plans to reconsider the heartbeat bill in a lame duck session that begins next week. Ohio Right to Life is working on a compromise with Faith2Action, the main anti-abortion group behind the bill, to develop a substitute bill they both can agree on.
Gonidakis told The Cincinnati Enquirer that the bill is close to being ready for Senate consideration, but he would not elaborate on the details. “We’re going to keep the process close to the vest,” he said. “We don’t want this to play out in the press. We’re still working on it, trading messages about the language. It’s not final yet.”…
While several GOP-controlled state legislatures flipped back to a Democratic majority on Tuesday, Ohio’s State Assembly remained firmly in Republican hands and gained a few anti-abortion allies. On Oct. 12th, Gov. John Kasich (R) appointed Ohio Right to Life board chair Marshall Pitchford to the committee in charge of choosing someone to fill a new vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court, and he appointed Gonidakis to the Ohio State Medical Board.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
“The so-called “heartbeat bill,” which could prevent a woman from having an abortion before she even realizes she’s pregnant …”
Do they mean the morning – after pill? Otherwise that makes no sense to me. No one seeks an abortion before they realize they are pregnant. Maybe it’s just worded oddly.
Lifejoy, it’s just kind of oddly worded. What they mean is that by the time the woman knows she’s pregnant and seeks the abortion initially, the cut off has already passed. If you consider many unexpected pregnancies don’t get ‘caught’ until 6-8 weeks, by the time mom knows she’s pregnant the heartbeat is already in place and the ‘cut off’ for abortion has passed.
Wow! This is a most exciting piece of news! What a coupe that would be for the pro-life movement!
maybe pro-life democrats will seize on this opportunity to gain a whole new constituency in light of the lack of support for life in the republican party-it would be hard to ignore if they did considering their power in the Senate-and if this goes there, we will see then what, if any, pro-life democrats exhist in the senate-you have to be not just pro-choice but pro-abortion to vote down protections for the beating human heart.
In the 1970’s this legislation was impossible because we didn’t know when the human heart was formed.
But this is the New Millennium.
No excuses.