On December 6th Ohio legislature made an astonishing motion to outlaw abortion after physicians detected a fetal heartbeat-approximately at six weeks following conception. The bill referred to as the “Heartbeat Bill” was sent to Governor John Kasich, a member of the republican party, to be signed. The bill, if it were to have become law, was seen as a fatal blow to Roe v. Wade.
Provided that Governor Kasich was expecting heavy opposition and expensive litigation over the “Heartbeat bill,” it was vetoed on December 13th. Instead the Governor decided to sign a more incremental bill, banning abortion at 20-weeks. The newly passed regulation going into effect in 90 days, eliminates the physician’s viability test but maintains the woman’s-health exception.
Pro-life advocates such as Ohio’s Right to Life President, Mike Gonidakis, found the 20-week ban promising. Gonidakis was quoted saying “By endorsing the 20-week ban in lieu of the heartbeat approach, Gov. Kasich provided strong pro-life leadership to finally engage a winnable battle with the federal judiciary while saving countless babies at the same time."
Perhaps this could be the happy medium for both the pro-life groups and abortion rights advocates. According to the website What to Expect.com, at 20-weeks into a pregnancy a mother-to-be is halfway through her pregnancy. The baby also weighs roughly ten ounces at this time and is starting to punch and kick. It is also around this time that the ultrasound is able show to your baby’s gender.
