US: Pro-life ‘Heartbeat Bill’ passed in Ohio

A Bill to protect a child’s right to life from its first heartbeat has been passed in Ohio.

The Bill requires doctors to check for a baby’s heartbeat before performing an abortion. Failure to do so could result in a prison sentence of up to one year.

The move has been welcomed by the pro-life group Faith2Action. Its President Janet Porter said: “We will see babies with beating hearts protected again”.

‘Opportunity to live’

Known as the ‘Heartbeat Bill’, it was approved in both the Ohio House of Representatives, by 56 votes to 39, and Senate, by 21 votes to 10.

It would also ban a doctor carrying out an abortion after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected – from about six weeks into pregnancy.

Republican Kris Jordan introduced the Bill and said afterwards that “it affords the most important liberty of all – the opportunity to live”.

It has now been sent to Gov. John Kasich for approval.

It affords the most important liberty of all – the opportunity to live.
Kris Jordan, Republican

Decrease

The news comes after a recent report revealed that the abortion rate in the US has fallen sharply in the past decade.

Research carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the abortion rate for 2013 was 12.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years.

From 2004, this represents a 21 per cent decrease in the rate of reported abortions. The number of abortions in this period fell by 20 per cent from 817,906 to 652,582.

Both these reported statistics are at their lowest levels since 2004.

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