The State of Ohio's twenty week abortion ban took effect today, prohibiting abortion for unborn babies that are 20-weeks post conception. Hopefully they will just outright the diabolical practice completely. But I am not that optimistic As we read in one report:
Ohio's 20-week abortion ban took effect today with no signs of a lawsuit challenging the new abortion restrictions.
The law, dubbed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, prohibits abortions after a fetus is 20 weeks or more post-fertilization, or about 22 weeks into a pregnancy as measured by physicians.
Physicians who violate the law face fourth-degree felony charges, punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Doctors could also be sued by women on whom they perform the illegal abortions or by the fathers of the fetuses.
Ohio Right to Life, the state's largest anti-abortion lobby, pushed the law as part of its strategy to chip away at abortion rights while withstanding court challenges. The ultimate goal: overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed states to restrict abortions performed after viability, generally considered 24 weeks.
"Ohio Right to Life firmly believes in the incremental approach and every bill we pass is designed for strategic purposes," Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said. "Whether we save one life or 1,000 lives it's the right thing to do and we're going to keep doing it."
Ohio Right to Life also cheered the absence of a lawsuit challenging the ban. Fifteen other states have passed similar laws; two were struck down by courts.
A lawsuit is still on the table, said ACLU of Ohio lobbyist Mike Brickner. Brickner said the law is unconstitutional and the ACLU will monitor the law's implementation.
Of the nearly 21,000 abortions performed in Ohio in 2015, 145 occurred after 21 weeks, state records show. Critics of the law say many of those were performed because of fetal abnormalities or pregnancy complications not known until that point.
Kellie Copeland, executive director of abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said Tuesday was a "sad day" for Ohio women and physicians.
"Unfortunately, this is another in a string of laws signed by Gov. John Kasich that interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and the practice of medicine in Ohio," Copeland said.
The Ohio State Medical Association and American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had urged Kasich to veto both the 20-week ban and the "heartbeat bill," which would have banned abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Neither contained exceptions for rape or incest.
Kasich signed the bill into law and vetoed the heartbeat bill in December.
"Ohio has passed 21 pro-life laws under Gov. John Kasich and there's room for four or five more before he's term limited," Gonidakis said.
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