The Ohio Senate passed SB23 yesterday to restrict abortion to the first six weeks of a woman’s pregnancy, in a vote of 19 to 13.
Republican Senator Kristina Roegner, the sponsor of the bill, told the Columbus Free Press after the vote, “The next step naturally is that it will go to the House Health Committee chaired by Derek Merrin (R) where the sponsor is Representative Keller (R).”
A Republican majority in the Ohio House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill, and Ohio’s new Republican Governor Mike DeWine has promised to sign it into law.
Senator Roegner introduced the bill in the senate session, and criticized the Supreme Court Ruling Roe v Wade (1973) which protects a woman’s right to an abortion based in her right to privacy regarding her body and her personal medical care. Roegner claimed Roe v Wade created a “moving target” by defining human personhood as beginning when the fetus is able to survive outside the womb and said, “We need a new standard. The heartbeat bill provides this new standard.”