While divided House Republicans abandoned plans to vote on a ban on abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy, the issue is thriving at the state level, with almost a third of all states having passed or considering similar laws.
Twenty-week bans — so-called “fetal pain” or “pain capable” bills because supporters say that’s when a fetus can feel pain — have been introduced this year in South Carolina and West Virginia, with Wisconsin and Ohio expecting to follow suit.
Ten states already ban abortions at about 20 weeks post fertilization. Similar laws in three others, Arizona, Georgia and Idaho, have been blocked in court action.
The Arizona law was struck down in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court declined to take the case. The cases in Georgia and Idaho are ongoing.
Ohio Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion organization, announced Tuesday it expects state lawmakers to introduce a 20-week abortion ban in the coming weeks. The group has declined to name the legislation’s sponsors.
“Our Pain-Capable legislation will alter the abortion debate in Ohio,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, the group’s executive director. “An overwhelming majority of Americans, especially women, support protecting pre-born babies from scalpels and dismemberment. This is priority legislation for Ohio Right to Life and once again, the nation is watching.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, an abortion rights group that opposes the pending Ohio legislation, said it is vital doctors keep the option of preforming abortions at 20 weeks because that’s when many pregnancy complications occur or become apparent.
“Sadly, some pregnancies don’t go as planned, resulting in devastating complications,” said the group’s executive director, Kellie Copeland. “In those cases women should be able to consult with their doctors and make the best decision for their family.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio adds that abortions conducted after 20 weeks are rare, accounting for 1.2 percent of all abortions.
Supporters of 20-week abortion bans hope the laws will bring a direct challenge to the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which says women have the right to an abortion up to the point of “viability,” or when a fetuses can be expected to survive outside the womb. Medical experts generally say viability begins at 24 weeks after a pregnant woman’s last period, or about 22 weeks after fertilization.
Supporters want to convince the Supreme Court to change its viability standard to allow states to abolish abortions at the point a fetus feels pain, not when the fetus can survive outside the womb.
A Quinnipiac University Poll taken in November found that 60 percent of Americans support a ban of abortions after 20 weeks, with 33 percent opposed.
The Republican-run House last Wednesday pulled a bill that called for banning abortions after 20 weeks after several female Republican lawmakers opposed a provision that limited exemptions for victims of rape or incest to only those who had reported those incidents to authorities.
The GOP leadership’s 11th hour decision to pull the measure didn’t sit well with some conservatives and anti-abortion groups, who have united around the 20-week ban and touted it as a reasonable limit to abortion that could be supported by a wide swath of Americans.
