Today, the Institute for Principled Policy’s executive director, Barry Sheets, participated in a press conference [1]to announce the introduction of pro-life legislation by the Ohio House of Representatives. The legislation, known as the Ohio Human Heartbeat Protection Act, would protect defenseless unborn human beings from abortion by making the abortion act illegal beginning at the point that the heartbeat is detected.
The bill, sponsored by state Representative Lynn Wachtmann of Napoleon (also the chairman of the Ohio House Health committee where the bill will be debated), is the strongest pro-life measure to yet come before Ohio legislators.
The Institute has worked in collaboration with a number of pro-life and pro-family organizations including Faith2Action, Family First, and many county Right to Life organizations in the state as well as attorneys and medical professionals to bring this legislation to the Ohio Legislature. Over forty state representatives have signed on as co-sponsors, and it is likely that upon introduction the bill will have a majority of the Ohio House as co-sponsors.
This effort is being supported [2]by a large grassroots show of support, as over 4,000 red mylar heart-shaped balloons sponsored by pro-life citizens will be delivered to the members of the Ohio General Assembly on Valentine’s Day with the message “Have a Heart! Pass the Heartbeat bill!”
Some pro-life organizations are opposing [3]the Ohio Human Heartbeat Protection Act, stating that the bill has “no chance” of passing US Supreme Court muster. Whether or not this crystal-ball prediction is valid will only be determined by standing on principle and passing the legislation, sending it on to the courts, and only then worrying about whether or not Anthony Kennedy got up on the wrong side of his bed that day.
Nothing ventured; nothing gained. Roe v. Wade stands as a strengthened precedent if it is never challenged. Ohio’s legislators and citizens are up to that challenge. Pass the Heartbeat bill!