COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio House version of the infamous heartbeat bill will get its first hearing Tuesday morning in the House Health Committee.
The bill was introduced by State Reps. Ron Hood (R-78) and Candice Keller (R-53), and has 48 cosponsors. Two previous iterations of the bill cleared the Ohio House and Senate, but both were vetoed by former Gov. John Kasich.
Gov. Mike DeWine, however, said in January that he would “absolutely” sign the heartbeat bill into law if it makes it to his desk.
Hood, who will testify before the House Health Committee Tuesday morning, was also a lead sponsor of 2018’s heartbeat bill. After it passed the House, he called it “the vehicle that is needed to revisit Roe v. Wade.”
“The House passage of the bill is a critical step in that long-awaited process. I am confident that this bill will protect tens of thousands of innocent lives with detectable heartbeats it if becomes law,” he added.
The current version of the bill, HB 68, would take things one step further by establishing a Joint Legislative Committee on Adoption Promotion and Support. According to the bill, this committee would be authorized to “review or study any matter that it considers relevant to the adoption process in this state, with priority given to the study or review of mechanisms intended to increase awareness of the process, increase its effectiveness, or both.”
Another section of the 53-page bill would require the Ohio Department of Health to publish “materials that inform the pregnant woman about family planning information, of publicly funded agencies that are available to assist in family planning, and of public and private agencies and services that are available to assist her throughout the pregnancy, upon childbirth, and while the child is dependent, including, but not limited to, adoption agencies.”
A companion bill was introduced in the Ohio Senate by Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-27) and referred to committee.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
