The full Ohio House is set to vote Wednesday on a ban on abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. It's been renamed the "Human Rights Protection Act" but has commonly been known as the Heartbeat Bill over the five times lawmakers have considered it.
There was debate over whether to hear testimony on the bill, but in the end, it was allowed. Most who spoke testified against it. Kimberly Inez Maguire asked the committee to put themselves in the shoes of a woman facing an unplanned or difficult pregnancy.
“Please consider the inevitability that someone you love will need an abortion.”
But that didn’t sway committee member Candice Keller (R-Middletown), who runs a pro-life pregnancy center.
“Someone you love will need an abortion? How ridiculous. What a thing to say.”
The two hours of testimony and mostly failed amendments to the bill didn’t change any minds. The vote on the bill was 11-7 along party lines.
