Ohio became the 19th state to ban abortions midway through pregnancy, with Gov. John Kasich signing a so-called “pain-capable” law on Tuesday.
The measure mirrors laws passed in more than a dozen other states based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain by 20 weeks of pregnancy. The pain-capable laws are a major strategy for the anti-abortion movement, which has sought to get a national ban enacted.
Kasich, a Republican who opposes abortion, vetoed a more stringent bill also passed by the state legislature, which would have banned abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is usually around seven or eight weeks of pregnancy. Courts have blocked such “heartbeat” laws in several other states.
