After months of tug-of-war between anti-choice groups in Ohio about the efficacy of a radical piece of legislation, the Ohio legislature has acted in favour of a more cautious approach.
On Wednesday, Dec. 14, Ohio Senate President Niehaus indefinitely shelved the “Heartbeat Bill” (HB 125), the controversial proposal that would have made it illegal for most women to have an abortion as early as 6-8 weeks into their pregnancy.
It sounds like Niehaus shelved the bill because its backers asked for more than 20 amendments on Wednesday, after they’d put heat on Niehaus to support the exact bill passed in the House.
“These eleventh hour revisions only serve to create more uncertainty about a very contentious issue. We’ve now heard hours of testimony that indicate a sharp disagreement within the pro-life community over the direction of this bill,” Niehaus said in a statement. “We cannot move forward on a bill that has so far created more confusion than consensus.”
HB 125 had been causing conflict within anti-choice groups: representatives from Ohio Right to Life suggested that such a bill might end up strengthening Roe vs. Wade, while Linda Theis and John Willke—former key members of Ohio Right to Life—disregard this concern and formed Ohio Pro Life Action in order to support a fetal heartbeat abortion ban.
But that same day, HB 79—a bill which prevents women from purchasing health insurance that includes abortion coverage through the state exchange—was passed through the Senate.
It would thus appear that in the tactical war between Ohio Right To Life and Ohio Pro Life Action, the Right to Life camp is winning. Bans on women’s ability to make their own health insurance decisions aren’t exactly sneaky, but they do demonstrate that the incremental approach continues to see success in the legislature. (Anti-choice bills signed into Ohio law this session include a late term abortion ban, and further restriction on minors’ ability to access abortion without parental consent.)
What the Heartbeat Bill failure means for the rift between the two groups remains to be seen. Will the executive of Pro Life Action continue to spearhead their separate coalition, or will they shelf the group and work with Right to Life once again?
But the real losers in these fights aren’t one anti-choice group or another, they’re women. As NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio puts it, “it appears that conservative members of the Ohio Legislature think it is OK for the State of Ohio to make medical decisions for women because women are incompetent to make those decisions for themselves.”
