Meet Ohio's Three New Anti-Abortion Laws

Abby Ohlheiser
Meet Ohio's Three New Anti-Abortion Laws

Ohio has three new abortion-restricting laws on the books now that Governor John Kasich has signed the new state budget without vetoing any of the abortion measures attached to it. 

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Kaisich also continued the trend of keeping the visuals of abortion legislation 100 percent men: 

Keep in mind that there are actually two big anti-abortion legislative efforts going on in Ohio this month. HB 200, the bill that will, among other things, require doctors to give patients disputed scientific "facts" about abortion, is still making its way through the state's legislature. The budget measures signed today pertain to funding provided to family planning services (effectively prioritizing anti-abortion pregnancy centers over Planned Parenthood for federal funding), and bans surgical facilities that perform abortions from partnering with public hospitals for transfer agreements. The Cleveland Plain Dealer explains the practical effects of the latter: 

"Surgical facilities in the state are required to have a transfer agreements with a hospital, Ribbins said, adding that barring Planned Parenthood from drafting agreements with public hospitals would force the health care provider to seek agreements with private hospitals, which are often affiliated with religious groups that oppose abortion."

 A last-minute provision added to the bill will require doctors to listen for, and if detected, inform patients of, a "fetal heartbeat." The bill doesn't specify the method used to detect the heartbeat, but this could possibly mean that doctors will perform external ultrasounds. 

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The new measures could cause the closure of some clinics and family planning centers that provide abortions. At the very least, they'll make it a lot harder for women in the state to receive any of the services offered by those providers.

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While the three abortion measures in the budget went untouched, the governor did veto 22 measures from the budget, including provisions pertaining to Medicaid, the sales tax, and Spider Monkeys.