Ohio Senate Advances Pro-Life Policies
In the midst of these challenging times, the fight for life persists! As the battle for life continues we at Ohio Right to Life have been hard at work, tirelessly advocating for the protection of the most vulnerable in our society. Check out this week’s Pro-Life Update!
Second Hearing Held for the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
Today, S.B. 157, the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act had its second hearing in the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee. This vital piece of anti-infanticide legislation would require a report to be created by the Ohio Department of Health for the abortionist to file if a baby is born alive during a botched abortion. It would also require that the doctors perform life-saving treatment to the baby, as they would to an infant born alive in any other situation.
Ohio Right to Life’s Director of Communications, Allie Frazier testified on behalf of the bill, stating, “The issue isn’t whether or not those children, born prematurely or with a fatal diagnosis, will ultimately survive. The issue is us being able to decide who gets left alone to die and who does not.”
Currently, Ohio law only allows abortions at and beyond 20 weeks if the child is deemed “unviable” or if a mother’s life or a serious bodily function is at risk. However, the lives of 95 unborn children ended at 20 weeks or later in Ohio in 2019. Due to the state’s lack of reporting requirements and safeguards, it is unknown if any of those children were born alive after the initial attempt to end their lives and if they were afforded the same level of potentially life-saving care given to infants born under any other circumstances.
Requirements Strengthened for Abortion Facilities’ Back-Up Physicians
Ohio’s biennial budget bill would strengthen current requirements for doctors who are listed on abortion facilities’ variances. Thanks to Senator Steve Huffman, who introduced a pro-life amendment to H.B. 110, doctors listed as back-up physicians for Ohio abortion facilities must have admitting privileges at a local hospital within a twenty-five mile radius of the facility and actively practice clinical medicine within a twenty-five mile radius of the facility, among other requirements.
Currently, all ambulatory surgical facilities in Ohio must have either a transfer agreement with a local hospital or have multiple doctors listed as back-up physicians to receive a variance.
It is our hope that these strengthened safety measures will improve patient safety and women’s health.
New Budget Amendment Aimed at Planned Parenthood’s Sex Ed
A new amendment in H.B. 110, Ohio’s biennial budget bill, would encourage healthy relationships and improve informed consent for parents. The amendment ensures that Ohio’s current laws, which encourage abstinence and adoption, are respected by notifying parents when any sex education curriculum not in line with Ohio values is taught in our public schools.
This measure will help protect and inform students and their parents when organizations like Planned Parenthood teach at their local schools. Planned Parenthood, whose explicit sex education normalizes abortion and elevates risky behavior in teens, committed 354,871 abortions during the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Ensuring that parents have control and information regarding the teaching of critical subjects such as sex education is vital to protecting the family.
Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 40 chapters and local affiliates, is Ohio’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement in Ohio, ORTL works through legislation and education to promote and defend innocent human life from conception to natural death.
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