Anti-abortion activists in Ohio are cheering the nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court – and they plan to celebrate with a bill that would ban all abortions in Ohio if the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is overturned.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for. This is our moment and it’s our time," said Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis.
Gonidakis said he expects Barrett to be confirmed. Confirmation hearings start on Oct. 12.
And with Republicans opposed to abortion leading the House, Senate and in the governor’s office, he said Senate President Larry Obhof will propose a bill to kill abortion in Ohio if Roe is overturned.
“What we’re doing with our trigger bill is saying, we’re banning abortion from the moment of conception except to save the life of the mother," Gonidakis said.
The bill would not penalize women, but a doctor who performs abortion could face a fourth degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
Gonidakis says he guarantees there are enough votes in the legislature to pass the bill this year. It'll be called the Human Life Protection Act.
The ban on abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected passed last year 56-40 in the House and 18-13 in the Senate and was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, but it’s on hold because of legal action.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said in a statement after the nomination of Barrett: “Being able to have an abortion or continue a pregnancy is a fundamental human right. You, and only you, should be able to make that decision about your body and your future. But that’s not what Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, believes. Barrett is so extreme; she doesn’t even think that health insurance coverage should include contraception. Her outright hostility to the basic human right to bodily autonomy disqualifies her from a life-time appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court."
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