Legislation

(Scroll further down this page to view legislation we are currently following in both the Ohio and federal legislatures.)

Our Position On Legislation

Many pro-life advocates disagree about whether or not to support pro-life legislation which does not completely ban all abortion, but instead provides some incremental approach to limiting abortion. The reality is that we are doing both. The decisions of the United State Supreme Court to make abortion legal through the Roe v Wade ruling in 1973 and subsequent rulings since made it impossible for states to ban abortion completely since it took it out of the jurisdiction of the states to do anything but regulate the practice of abortion, and allows them to ban it only after the point of viability in an unborn child’s gestation (roughly starting at 20 weeks). Roe v Wade was overturned by the Dobbs v Jackson decision on June 24, 2022. With this decision, the ability to decide the legality of abortion has returned to the control of the individual states. Most states are now in the process of determining either through legislative or ballot initiatives on whether or not abortion will be legal in that state. In Ohio, abortion was legal prior to Roe v Wade and remained legal after the Dobbs decision. However, the incremental Heartbeat Bill that had been enjoined by the courts after its passage under Roe v Wade went into effect almost immediately after the Dobbs decision, and abortion became illegal after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Several months after this, a Cincinnati judge issued an injunction against the Heartbeat Bill which at present has not been overturned,

Right to Life of Northeast Ohio is selective in the pro-life legislation that we do support. We WILL NOT support any legislation that will ban or place limits on abortion if it has exceptions in it for the children conceived through rape or incest, or exceptions for children with fetal abnormalities/disabilities (such as the national Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act). In those cases, we push for the removal of the exception language.

The other reality is that legislation is only a small part of our mission at Right to Life of Northeast Ohio. By IRS non-profit rules and regulations, we are limited in the amount of time, energy and money that we are permitted to spend on political or legislative activities. Because of this, we are very selective in what prospective legislation we will support, and choose to spend any limited funds and time only on legislation which we are certain according to our legal expert’s opinion can survive a court challenge. (SPECIAL NOTE: Should a law pass in Ohio and be challenged, the Ohio Attorney General is obliged to defend the law in court, which can be very expensive. Should the law NOT survive the challenge, the state very often must pay the legal costs of the challenge to the opposing side, thereby giving money to the pro-abortion side.) We choose to remain neutral on any legislation which we believe cannot withstand a court challenge in order to preserve our resources for other legislation. Our main focus is on education and advocacy in order to bring about a positive change to the culture of life. We believe that we must change the hearts and minds of abortion minded individuals through these education and advocacy efforts so that even if we are unsuccessful in our legislative efforts, we will be successful in helping to change the culture so that people will understand the evil of abortion and all other threats to human life and that abortion clinics will close because there will be no customers. This is where the bulk of our time and energy goes, and where we have seen the most positive changes occurring with our mission.

OHIO LEGISLATION

The 133rd Ohio General Assembly ended at the end of 2022. The 134th Ohio General Assembly began on January 1, 2023. All pending legislation that did not pass the 133rd General Assembly has expired. As new bills that deal with legislative issues pertaining to our mission are introduced, we will list them here along with our position on these bills.

SPECIAL NOTE: Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (a group of 1,400 Ohio doctors, or about 4% of Ohio physicians) and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom (including Planned Parenthood, the ACLU of Ohio, Pro-Choice Ohio, Preterm-Cleveland, Abortion Fund of Ohio, the Ohio Women’s Alliance, URGE or United for Reproductive and Gender Equity and New Voices for Reproductive Justice) have formed Protect Ohio Choice, a coalition that is aiming to put a proposed amendment on ballots on Nov. 7, 2023. While the battle to stop this is underway, there will probably be no new pro-life legislation introduced in Ohio. For more information on this dangerous proposal, click on the "Issues" tab on the Right to Life of Northeast Ohio website, and then click on "Abortion Ballot Initiative."

Check back here often for any possible new proposed Ohio pro-life legislation.

FEDERAL LEGISLATION

The 117th Congress ended at the end of 2022. The 118th Congress began on January 1, 2023. All pending legislation that did not pass the 117th Congress has expired.

NO TAXPAYER FUNDING FOR ABORTION - HR7/S62 This bill prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions or for health coverage that includes abortions. Such restrictions extend to the use of funds in the budget of the District of Columbia. Additionally, abortions may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. The bill's restrictions regarding the use of federal funds do not apply in cases of rape, incest, or where a physical disorder, injury, or illness endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The Hyde Amendment provides the same exceptions.

The bill also prohibits qualified health plans from including coverage for abortions. Currently, qualified health plans may cover abortion, but the portion of the premium attributable to abortion coverage is not eligible for subsidies. The house versions has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. The Senate version has been referred to the Committee on Finance. Right to Life of Northeast Ohio supports this bill, but has requested that sponsors remove the exceptions.

BORN ALIVE ABORTION SURVIVORS PROTECTION ACT - HR26/S204 This bill establishes requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must provide in the case of a child born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion. Specifically, a health care practitioner who is present must (1) exercise the same degree of care as would reasonably be provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure the child is immediately admitted to a hospital. Additionally, a health care practitioner or other employee who has knowledge of a failure to comply with the degree-of-care requirements must immediately report such failure to law enforcement. A health care practitioner who fails to provide the required degree of care, or a health care practitioner or other employee who fails to report such failure, is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. An individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder. The bill bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive under this bill and allows her to bring a civil action against a health care practitioner or other employee for violations. The bill has passed the house, and is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Right to Life of Northeast Ohio supports this bill.

What can you do about these bills?

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED LEGISLATORS!

CLICK HERE to get contact information for your legislators.

CLICK HERE to read/print the document "10 Tips On How To Write To Your Legislator"