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Ohio Heartbeat Bill Leads to ACLU Lawsuit

A photo of the ACLU announcing their lawsuit over Ohio's lawsuit
SAM ABERLE
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
ACLU announces lawsuit over heartbeat bill

More than a month after Gov. Mike DeWine signed one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, a lawsuit has been filed in federal court to stop it from taking effect in July. It bans abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

The bill bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, often before a woman would even know she was pregnant. Jessie Hill, an attorney working with the ACLU, said the so-called “heartbeat bill” is blatantly unconstitutional.

“The law is very clear and the science that fetuses are not viable at six weeks of pregnancy and states cannot ban abortions before viability.”

Backers of the heartbeat bill expected the court challenge over the new law and hope the case will end up with the U.S. Supreme Court. They think the new conservative justices could use the law to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.