Ohio Legislature Introduces Abortion Proposals from KentWired.com on Vimeo.

A medical hot topic will be coming to Ohio Legislature.

Anti-abortion lawmakers plan to introduce several bills to councilmen. This most recent one would set Ohio apart from the rest of the nation though.

Republicans are vying for a bill to pass that restricts women from aborting pregnancies, which the fetus has been diagnosed with Down syndrome.

A 2012 study shows 67.5% of American women choose to end those pregnancies.

Ohio Right to Life Director of Communications Katie Franklin says the bill falls under a person’s right to live

“One of the jobs of the government is to protect our rights,” Franklin said, “and to protect the right to life. It is very fitting that something like this happens in the statehouse.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum are pro-choice activists.

Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Kellie Copeland says the bill violates the doctor-patient relationship.

“I think that,” Copeland said, “when women experience complicated diagnosis situations in their pregnancy, politicians should not be involved. These are medical decisions, they are private decisions, and should be made by women in consultation with their physicans.”

If passed, Ohio would become the first state in the country to make a restriction like this.

Ohio is not the first state to propose a bill similar to this though. Senator Republican Travis Holdman in Indiana introduced a bill proposal like this in January 2015.

Senate Bill 334 states, “Abortion prohibition based on sex or disability. Prohibits a person from performing an abortion if the person knows that the pregnant woman is seeking the abortion because of: (1) the sex of the fetus; or (2) a diagnosis or potential diagnosis of the fetus having Down syndrome or any other disability.”

The Ohio bill joins other legislature being presented by Republicans, such as banning abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. The current standard is 24 weeks, meaning that law would challenge Roe versus Wade. 

Also, unless a mother’s life is in danger, the lawmakers want to prohibit abortions. This proposal only take place if the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, a case that has stood since 1973. 

Other laws include limiting Planned Parenthood public funding for infant mortality prevention grants, requiring use of federal protocols for abortion-inducing drugs and funding pregnancy centers for counseling women on other abortion alternatives.

These are all still in the proposal phase. If passed though, they will have major implications in abortion laws. 

Contact Tyler Trill at [email protected]