Abortion bill gets hearing
Brinkman bill in Ohio House might bring Roe v. Wade review
Cincinnati Enquirer
June 13, 2006
BY JON CRAIG | ENQUIRER COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS - A bill banning abortion in Ohio - and making it a felony to perform one - gets its first hearing today. Introduced last year by state Rep. Tom Brinkman, a Mount Lookout Republican, House Bill 228 is intended to trigger a U.S. Supreme Court review of the 33-year-old federal ruling legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade. Abortion rights groups plan a 9 a.m. protest outside the Statehouse. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. Brinkman's bill would ban abortion in all cases, even rape and incest but wouldn't punish doctors who unintentionally terminate a pregnancy while trying to save the life of the mother. The bill would make it a felony to perform an abortion or transport a woman across state lines to have one. Ohio already requires women seeking abortions to be told about alternatives and then wait at least 24 hours. And minors must get a parent's consent. A late-term procedure, known as "partial-birth abortion," also is illegal in Ohio. Mark Harrington, executive director for the anti-abortion Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Midwest, has called Brinkman's bill "a trigger law," meaning that it could prompt U.S. Supreme Court review. In February, South Dakota legislators passed a state ban on abortion. "South Dakota is paving the way for states like Ohio to ban abortion," Harrington said. "Skeptics said House Bill 228 would never even get a hearing. The skeptics were wrong." But groups who support abortion rights say Ohio lawmakers are taking the wrong approach. "If politicians really care about reducing the need for abortion in our state, they should work to pass common-sense measures that increase access to birth control and medically accurate sex education," said Gary Dougherty, executive director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio.
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