With a single pen stroke, Ohio Governor John Kasich has the power to make abortion a practical impossibility for Ohioans.
Wait— what?
Currently sitting on the “moderate” Republican’s desk is the controversial abortion measure called the Heartbeat Bill.
House Bill 493 was passed on Tuesday December 6 by the Ohio House, voting 56-39. The measure had been previously approved by the Ohio Senate.
If approved by Kasich, the bill will ban abortions the moment the heartbeat of a fetus can be detected, which typically occurs about six weeks into a pregnancy.
Additionally, the Heartbeat Bill’s restrictions apply even to cases of rape or incest.
This is exceptionally problematic because— surprise— most women don’t even notice they are pregnant by then.
Six weeks is an incredibly small window of time. It is only two weeks after the first missed period. How can you choose to have an abortion if you don’t even realize you’re pregnant?
Further: How can a patient successfully schedule the procedure in such a limited amount of time?
Ohio only has eight abortion clinics which are still in operation, with one operating in Toledo.
This limited amount of locations means long waiting lists. Additionally, state laws require women to wait 24 hours between an informational appointment about abortion and the procedure.
If this bill becomes a law, abortion would no longer be a practical option for Ohioans.
Now, the HB493 sits on Kasich’s desk. If he decides to sign the bill, or does nothing within 10 days, the Heartbeat Bill will become law in early 2017— and Ohio will have the toughest abortion restrictions in the country.
Want to stop this?
Call Kasich and tell him
your thoughts.
Kasich’s mainline: 614-466-3555
The hotline: 614-644-4357
His direct email: [email protected].
FastAction e-mail.
Directly contact the Governor here.
Or here.
For a four page list of Kasich’s entire staff, click here.
For specific members of his
communications department and media team:
Emmalee Kalmbach (Communications Department)
614-644-0906 | [email protected]
Michael Duchesne (Communications Department)
614-632-5145 | [email protected]
Stephanie Gostomski (Communications Department)
614-466-6619 | [email protected]
Michelle Farley (Public Information Officer)
614-728-1287 | [email protected]
Robert Denhard (Public Information Officer)
614-644-3366 | [email protected]
If H9493 becomes law, the ACLU of Ohio is prepared.
They released the following statement:
[Just a reminder, if the unconstitutional #HeartbeatBill passes and becomes law, we will challenge it in court. #ProChoice 202 Retweets. 330 Likes. 2:43pm. December 6, 2106.]
