Ohio 20-Week Abortion Ban Approved

Ohio Governor John Kasich, Republican and an opponent of abortion rights, acted on two proposals Tuesday one of which was the 20-week ban on abortion which he signed and the other a bill that would strictly prohibit abortion upon the detection of the first fetal heartbeat which he vetoed.

"The State of Ohio will be the losing party in that lawsuit and, as the losing party, the State of Ohio will be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to cover the legal fees for the pro-choice activists' lawyers. "Therefore, this veto is in the public interest," the governor said.

Both bills presume that fetus can feel pain so the heartbeat bill seeks to disallow abortions the moment the doctors detect fetal heartbeat. Fox News said similar measures were already challenged legally and a declaration of unconstitutionality is not far out as the bill's opponents predicted. This would not only also encourage costly litigation but also challenge the existing abortion prohibitions in Ohio.

ABC News said anti-abortion advocates are already considering the same abortion restrictions just like what legislators did in other states like New Mexico, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas and Georgia among others. Oklahoma took Nebraska's lead and banned abortion for 20-week fetus. Bill sponsor Representative Pam Peterson said unborn babies feel pain and there is medical evidence to prove this.

While one research shows that fetus can feel pain, there is however another research which shows that fetus cannot feel pain before the 29th week of gestation. There is still an option to override the veto if three-fifths of each Ohio chanber would agree to that.

MSN said broader actions against abortion is expected from anti-abortion advocates one President-elect Donald Trump takes over in January next year. Constitutional issues are however seen as one of the reasons why other groups like the Ohio Right to Life have remained neutral.