[moved from American Politics] Ohio House approves abortion ban after heartbeat

[Gishin]

(Reuters) - 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.
Republican Ohio House Speaker William Batchelder said he knows this bill will face a court challenge.
"We're writing bills for courts," he said.
The bill now goes to the Republican-dominated Ohio Senate.
The Ohio House also passed two other abortion restrictions Tuesday, one that would ban late-term abortions after 20 weeks if a doctor determines that the fetus is viable outside the womb. Another bill excludes abortion coverage from the state insurance exchange created by the federal health care law.
The late-term ban already was passed by the Ohio Senate.
Neither bill was as contentious as the heartbeat legislation, which does not contain exceptions for rape, incest or the life or health of the mother.
Republican Representative Danny Bubp said the bill is the will of the voters. He noted that Republicans, who tend to favor anti-abortion laws, became the majority in the state house last November.
"We have to reflect on what Ohio did on November 2nd of last year," said Bubp. "And that is they voted. And they voted for change. Today, we have three pro-life bills on the floor and I'm happy about that."
Democrats in the Ohio House said the heartbeat bill goes too far.
"This bill gives the government the ultimate power, the ultimate power to intrude upon the most personal and intimate decisions of our lives, of women's lives, frankly," said Rep. Connie Pillich.
Ohio Right to Life also has expressed concerns about the heartbeat bill. The organization said the bill is unconstitutional and believes it is not wise to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer's dollars defending it.

Government just small enough to fit in the uterus.

 

[Harpuia]

Sentience. Heart does not = sentience. -_-

 

[Ton80]

Government just small enough to fit in the uterus.

I suppose Ohio should stop pulling the plug on any brain-dead patient who is hooked up to life support.

 

[Gishin]

And those with artificial hearts are not actually alive I guess.

 

[Jase]

Government just small enough to fit in the uterus.

The fact that there is no exception for health, incest, rape, etc. is appalling. So if a 7 week old embryo poses a serious health risk to the woman, she just has to suck it up and die?

 

[chaz345]

Sentience. Heart does not = sentience. -_-

Apparently neither does being elected to statewide office.

 

[Gishin]

The fact that there is no exception for health, incest, rape, etc. is appalling. So if a 7 week old embryo poses a serious health risk to the woman, she just has to suck it up and die?

Or go to another state.

 

[Jase]

Or go to another state.

Which presents an issue if she doesn't have to means to leave the state, or if she needs to be hospitalized relatively quickly and might not be of good enough health to leave the state first.

 

[revanneosl]

Follow me here:

51.3% of the population of Ohio is female
40.7% of those women are between the ages of 15 and 44
Ohio’s population is 11,463,403
Therefore 2,393,455 Ohioans are women of childbearing age
Ohio - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2005-2007

2.59% of women get pregnant in America every year
http://www.guttmacher.org/in-the-know/index.html

Therefore 61,990 women in Ohio will get pregnant every year

2% pregnancies implant ectopically
Medscape: Medscape Access

So if you do the math you will see that, if Ohio will not allow the termination of life-threatening pregnancies, the net result will be approximately 1,240 dead women per year.

1,240 dead women. Per year. Every year.

 

[Paulos23]

That is just nuts....and taking it to the extreme. They must want this to go to the Supreme Court.

 

[Gishin]

Which presents an issue if she doesn't have to means to leave the state, or if she needs to be hospitalized relatively quickly and might not be of good enough health to leave the state first.

Shouldn't have the audacity to be a woman then.

 

[revanneosl]

If ever there was a Court to overturn Roe, the Roberts Court is it.

 

[Jase]

Follow me here:

51.3% of the population of Ohio is female
40.7% of those women are between the ages of 15 and 44
Ohio’s population is 11,463,403
Therefore 2,393,455 Ohioans are women of childbearing age
Ohio - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2005-2007

2.59% of women get pregnant in America every year
http://www.guttmacher.org/in-the-know/index.html

Therefore 61,990 women in Ohio will get pregnant every year

2% pregnancies implant ectopically
Medscape: Medscape Access

So if you do the math you will see that, if Ohio will not allow the termination of life-threatening pregnancies, the net result will be approximately 1,240 dead women per year.

1,240 dead women. Per year. Every year.

And that's only looking at ectopic pregnancies. That doesn't factor in other complications that might be a risk to a woman's health.

But hey, 1240 dead women is better than 1240 dead babies... oh wait, the baby would die too. I guess Republican logic doesn't go that far does it?

 

[blueapplepaste]

Follow me here:

51.3% of the population of Ohio is female
40.7% of those women are between the ages of 15 and 44
Ohio’s population is 11,463,403
Therefore 2,393,455 Ohioans are women of childbearing age
Ohio - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2005-2007

2.59% of women get pregnant in America every year
http://www.guttmacher.org/in-the-know/index.html

Therefore 61,990 women in Ohio will get pregnant every year

2% pregnancies implant ectopically
Medscape: Medscape Access

So if you do the math you will see that, if Ohio will not allow the termination of life-threatening pregnancies, the net result will be approximately 1,240 dead women per year.

1,240 dead women. Per year. Every year.

Abortion is a matter of personal choice, those women shouldn't choose to have an ectopic pregnancy. If they choose not to have an ectopic pregnancy, then they don't have to have an abortion for medical reasons. Think of all the dead babies!!!

[/republican argument]

Seriously, this is a great post. Just shows you that many of these "pro-life" people aren't really pro-life, they're just anti-choice and pandering to their base. Sickening really.

 

[Gawron]

I looked up the actual bill as introduced, and it is defined as follows, quote:

“To amend sections…of the Revised Code to prohibit abortions in this state, to increase the penalties for the offenses of unlawful abortion, unlawful distribution of an abortion-inducing drug, and abortion trafficking, to enact the offense of facilitating an abortion, and to make conforming changes in related provisions”

I did not find any explicit exceptions for the “health” of the mother included, but did find where language defining “non-therapeutic” abortions was originally included, but apparently subsequently lined out.

Quote:
(1) "Nontherapeutic abortion" means an abortion that is performed or induced when the life of the mother would not be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or when the pregnancy of the mother was not the result of rape or incest reported to a law enforcement agency.
Does this mean these conditions of pregnancy requiring an abortion would be allowed?

Later in the bill I did find this passage, which may (I say “may” because I am not a lawyer) serve to provide a potential exception in cases of ectopically implanted pregnancies (although that is not specifically mentioned). However, the language cited does include the phrase “without intent to do so”, and removing a fetus ectopically implanted would require intent.

Quote:
(C) Division (B)(4) of this section does not apply to a person who provides medical treatment to a pregnant woman to prevent the death of the pregnant woman and who, as a proximate result of the provision of that medical treatment but without intent to do so, causes the termination of the pregnant woman's pregnancy. Divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply to a hospital, director, or governing board regarding the provision, by a person at the hospital, of medical treatment to a pregnant woman to prevent the death of the pregnant woman when the person, as a proximate result of the provision of that medical treatment but without intent to do so, causes the termination of the pregnant woman's pregnancy.

Link: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_HB_228

I seriously doubt any state would allow 1,240 women a year to die due to pregnancies which could only lead to their deaths. An ectopic pregnancy is not viable, and as such are treated as medical emergencies requiring treatment for the affected patient.

Posted by blueapplepast:

"those women shouldn't choose to have an ectopic pregnancy"

With only a few rare exceptions, these women can't have an ectopic pregancy.

 

[FaithLikeARock]

Well I sure hope the follow up to this is a few million in tax payer dollars to welfare and foster systems to tend to all those unwanted babies that are undoubtedly going to be left on the back porch.

 

[lux et lex]

Oh someone around here was saying that some ectopic pregnancies are viable and that we should just let God sort it out.

 

[Ton80]

I seriously doubt any state would allow 1,240 women a year to die due to pregnancies which could only lead to their deaths. An ectopic pregnancy is not viable, and as such are treated as medical emergencies requiring treatment for the affected patient.

Mother Gives Birth to Girl After Nine-Month Ectopic Pregnancy, No Abortion | LifeNews.com

 

[Gishin]

And a woman has survived falling out of an airplane too.

 

[jpcedotal]

Amen to Ohio for standing up for unborn children.