Solon Representative Votes Against Ohio Heartbeat Abortion Bill

SOLON, OH — The Ohio Congress passed the so-called "heartbeat" abortion bill this week. The controversial legislation will now head to Governor Mike DeWine's desk for a signature.

Senate Bill 23 bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. During the gubernatorial campaign in Ohio, DeWine said he would sign similar legislation. His predecessor, John Kasich, frequently vetoed "heartbeat" abortion bills.

The voting on Senate Bill 23 fell along party lines, the legislation passing 56-40. House Democrats, including Solon's representative Phil Robinson, cast their voices against the legislation.

“How can we possibly fulfill the Ohio promise of a better life and attract more people and employers to our state if we pass the most extreme, near-complete abortion ban in the entire country? People will not want to start families and businesses in Ohio with this type of attack on women’s rights. We need to defend a woman’s right to make her own choices about her health and her reproductive decisions," Robinson said on Wednesday in a statement.

Senate Bill 23 was met with protests at the Ohio State House. The controversial legislation makes no exceptions for rape or incest and makes limited exceptions to protect the life of the mother. The Ohio House added last-minute changes, House Dems said, that eliminate protections for women from forced vaginal ultrasounds and removed language from the bill that said the state had an interest in protecting the health of women.

Cleveland Heights' State Rep. Janine Boyd pointed to the change in language that cut the health of women from state priorities. The legislation originally stated:

The state of Ohio has a legitimate interest from the outset of pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman. The state of Ohio has a compelling interest from the outset of pregnancy in protecting the life of an unborn human individual who may be born.

And that passage became:

The state of Ohio has a legitimate and important interest from the outset of pregnancy in protecting the life of an unborn human individual who may be born.

"Government control of a women’s reproductive decisions is a violation of her right to privacy between herself and her doctor, and her personal freedoms. The General Assembly should focus on improving our education system for our children, not restricting essential healthcare access," Robinson added.

Baldwin Wallace University conducted polling to gauge how Ohioans felt about "heartbeat" abortion legislation. The results were nearly evenly split, with 43 percent of Ohioans opposing the bill and 41 percent in support of it. Nearly 16 percent of Ohioans said they were not sure how they felt about the legislation.

Ohio Republicans have largely been celebrating the passage of the bill through the Ohio Congress. Middletown's Rep. Candice Keller said the legislation is a moral issue. Keller is the executive director of an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center.

“This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This is not a religious issue. This is an issue of humanity and morality," she told cleveland.com.