Republicans in Ohio have introduced legislation that would make women who receive abortions subject to murder charges.
House Bill 413, introduced by State Reps. Candice Keller and Ron Hood, would “regard the unborn child victim of an aggravated abortion murder or abortion murder as a person who is less than thirteen years of age.”
Under the law, women who receive abortions as part of a lifesaving medical procedure would not be prosecuted as long as they could prove that they took “all possible steps to preserve the life of the unborn child, while preserving the life of the woman.”
Doctors who perform abortion procedures would not be subject to prosecution under the law.
“The time for regulating evil and compromise is over,” Keller said in a news release. “The time has come to abolish abortion in its entirety and recognize that each individual has the inviolable and inalienable Right to Life.”
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year signed one of the country’s most restrictive abortion laws — a so-called heartbeat bill that has since been challenged in court and blocked by a federal judge. His predecessor and former Republican candidate for president John Kasich twice vetoed similar legislation.
Ohio Right to Life says it was not involved in the drafting of Keller and Hood’s bill but fully supports it as the heartbeat bill remains tied up in the federal court system.
“While we also feel a profound sense of urgency to end all abortion in Ohio, we believe that the Heartbeat Bill, which is currently in the courts, is the best way to achieve our goal of overturning Roe v Wade,” the organization said in a statement.
Keller claims her bill is based on the principles of human rights, which she says the unborn should also enjoy.
“Only respect for life can be the foundation of a free society that supports peace, justice, and integrity,” she said.
