From Reuters, this exciting news from Ohio yesterday:
The Ohio House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which can be as early as six weeks.
The House voted 54 to 43 for the ban, along party lines, with most Republicans voting in favor.
If enacted, the law would be a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling which upheld a woman’s right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, usually at 22-24 weeks.
I’ve never personally had a problem with the “incremental” strategy of eliminating abortion so long as you keep on ticking through more and more “increments.” Now that 6 states have banned abortion at 20 weeks, creating a direct conflict with Roe v. Wade that no pro-abortion groups have challenged even nearly a year after the first ban was passed, it’s time to call their bluff and up the ante on them. Enter Ohio, with a proposal to ban abortion early in the first trimester. This would be effectively a total abortion ban, since almost all abortions (over 90%) don’t even take place until after the baby develops a heartbeat anyway.
Republican Ohio House Speaker William Batchelder said he knows this bill will face a court challenge.
But I’m not so sure. NARAL & co. are hopping mad about this legislation, but will they have the guts to mount a legal challenge if the bill passes in the Senate? Maybe Planned Parenthood and friends will have to–after all, a ban that starts at 5 or 6 weeks, unlike at 20, rather cuts the cord (as it were) on their abortion business…
“We’re writing bills for courts,” he said.
Good. And let’s keep rewriting them until we force the abortion industry into court with us.
