An Ohio-based pro-life group hopes to force a vote on legislation that would prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks.
The bill already passed in the Ohio House, but Republican Ohio state Senate President Tom Niehaus announced Tuesday that the Ohio Senate would not vote on the bill before the end of the legislative session next month.
Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter said the group now plans to force a vote on the bill. Faith2Action is calling on pro-life activists in the state to contact Republican state senators and urge the lawmakers to sign a discharge petition.
"Unless pro-lifers want to hold signs and march for 40 more years, they should pick up the phone and call every Republican senator and demand a floor vote for the Heartbeat Bill before their inaction kills it," Porter said in a statement. "These Republicans have the power to bring the Heartbeat Bill to a vote before it dies."
Though agreeing with its goals, Ohio Right to Life refused to support the legislation because the group believed it was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade established that a woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is usually at 22 to 24 weeks.
