Abortion

Ohio Editorial Pans “Heartbeat” Ban While Arizona Considers Their Own

"[Y]ou don’t have to identify with either side in the anti-abortion dispute to conclude that the heartbeat bill should be defeated, because it is simply bad law."

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The Ohio senate hasn’t actually heard opposition to the new bill that would outlaw abortion from the moment a heartbeat can be detected.  But if they want to hear legitimate reasons why the bill should be killed, all they need to do is open the Toledo Blade to the editorial section.

[Y]ou don’t have to identify with either side in the anti-abortion dispute to conclude that the heartbeat bill should be defeated, because it is simply bad law. It is a political and ideological statement masquerading as public policy.

The heartbeat measure is cruel in that it allows no exception for victims of rape or incest (although it includes exceptions for a pregnancy that threatens a woman’s life or physical health). It also is inconsistent in that it would subject doctors who perform abortions that violate the law to felony prosecutions and loss of their medical licenses, but does not call for criminal charges against the women who get those abortions.

Ohioans have challenged other overreaching behavior by state government this year, whether the issue is public employees’ bargaining rights, one-sided political maps, or partisan election “reform.” The heartbeat bill is another example of such extremism. Sooner or later, you’d hope that lawmakers and the governor’s office would get the message.

Now, maybe the senate could send a copy of that editorial to the lawmakers in Arizona, since they are considering passing a ban of their own.