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The Columbus Dispatch is reporting, "The election of Donald Trump emboldened majority Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly to pass the strictest abortion law in the nation Tuesday."
It's called the "Heartbeat Bill."
Pro-abortion emotions are raging.
Will self-defined "pro-life" Republican Governor John Kasich cave to pressure and veto the bill?
Or will he stand for what he says he believes?
The Columbus Dispatch says, "In a surprise move in the final days of the lame-duck session, the Senate and the House adopted the Heartbeat Bill---long sought by some abortion opponents---to outlaw abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, generally about six-weeks into pregnancy."
The Dispatch says previous attempts to pass the bill "have failed over concerns that it would be ruled unconstitutional in the federal courts, as have similar laws in two other states."
This is true. While several other states have considered fetal heartbeat abortion bans, only 2 have passed it, Arkansas and North Dakota. The laws in both states were later found to be unconstitutional by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals and declared illegal. The Supreme Court declined to hear appeals.
What's different now?
Senate President, Republican Keith Faber, told the Dispatch the reason for moving on this bill now is, "A new president, new Supreme Court appointees change the dynamic, and there was consensus in our caucus to move forward."
Senator Kris Jordan (R) introduced the bill in the Senate saying, "This is just flat out the right thing to do. It affords the most important liberty or all--the opportunity to live."
Janet Porter, president of Faith2Action who has pushed for the bill for years, says, "It's a brand-new day with a Trump-appointed Supreme Court and we are very hopeful ...we will see babies with beating hearts protected again."
She said, "I've been practicing this sound bite for about six years, so allow me to say it now, all glory goes to the God of the impossible, praise to the name of Jesus," Porter told the State House News.
Not everyone is singing "Joy To The World."
To no one's surprise, officials at NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio are saying they are "stunned" because "The unconstitutional six-week abortion ban, known as the 'Heartbeat Bill', would block access to safe and legal abortion before most women even know they're pregnant. The amendment has no exceptions in the bill for rape, incest, or to protect the health of the woman and would criminalize doctors who perform abortion procedures, regardless of the reason."
NARAL director Kellie Copeland added, "Clearly this bill's supporters are hoping that President-elect Trump will have the chance to pack Supreme Court with justices poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. We must protect that from happening."
She's right, all pro-life citizens should hope---and pray---that Trump will "pack the court" with justices who will regard the Constitution---including the right to life.
Neither is it surprising that Ohio Democratic Women's Caucus Chair Kathy DiCristofaro is telling the press, "This bill---which was tacked on as a last-minute amendment to a child abuse prevention bill---makes no exceptions for rape or incest victims. It is cruel and plainly unconstitutional ---but it seems like Ohio Republicans don't care about the Constitution. Trump's vision for America is already alive and well in the Buckeye state."
Nor is it surprising that Democratic activist Sen. Capri Carfaro told the press, "We have no way of anticipating the reasons why women and their families and their doctors and their gods come to the decision they make about their body to terminate a pregnancy."
It is a bit surprising that 2 Republican senators voted against it.
It is personally disappointing to me---and others that Ohio Right To Life opposes it.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer gladly reports, "Ohio Right To Life, the state's largest anti-abortion lobby, has opposed the bill because of concerns about constitutionality."
Ohio Right to Life president says, "You have to be cautious in your approach and if you over reach, the courts will set you back and be very fierce against you."
Kasich has said he agrees.
Does he really believe you can be nice enough or clever enough to cause an activist lifetime appointed judge or justice to see it "your way" regarding the sanctity of life?
I have been a life long supporter of Right To Life---this is not personally encouraging.
Most troubling is the possibility that Governor John Kasich will veto the bill.
The child abuse bill---to which the heartbeat bill is an amendment, contains an appropriation, so Kasich has a line item veto power when signing the bill containing the heartbeat language.
Why would they do this?
Well..."it's complicated," they say.
The Ohio Right to Life director says, "Our ultimate goal is to overturn Roe v Wade and we feel the 20-week ban is the best (legal) strategy."
Gov. John Kasich's spokesperson is saying the Governor may veto it for the same reasons,
Republicans like Kasich, a man whom I have known in the past, have been strategizing for decades on these moral issues.
I like what Janet Porter is thinking: "It's a brand new day and we believe that by the time this Ohio heartbeat law gets to the Supreme Court it will be upheld in its entirety."
I would encourage our readers in Ohio to call the governor.
A very wise man wrote Ecclesiastes chapter 11:
Consider this-
Cast your bread upon the waters,
For you will find it after many days.
Give a serving to seven, and also to eight,
For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.
If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or the north,
In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
As you do not know what is the way of the wind,[a]
Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.
Vice-President elect Mike Pence told a group of conservative Christians in the nation's capitol earlier this week to buckle up---things are changing---"God is moving."
And God's ways are higher than our ways---every time.
Be Informed. Be Encouraged. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.