Face of Nation : A federal judge Wednesday blocked Ohio’s so-called heartbeat bill,which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Saying the law places an unconstitutional “undue burden” on a woman’s right to have an abortion, U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett granted a preliminary injunction.
That means a law that was supposed to go into effect July 1, and which would have effectively halted most abortions in Ohio, is now on hold while the expected court challenges play out.
In his 12-page order, the Cincinnati-based Barrett noted that fetal heartbeats can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy before many women even know they are pregnant.
“A woman with irregular periods likely will be denied the opportunity to seek an abortion altogether because she will not realize that she is pregnant in time to choose her fate,” Barrett wrote.
Under the law, doctors would face up to a year in prison for performing an abortion after detecting a heartbeat. And while the bill has an exception to save the life of the woman, there is no exception for rape or incest.
Supporters of the bill said Barrett’s ruling was not a surprise — and that the measure was designed to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion nationwide.
“The heartbeat bill has the potential to be the vehicle that overturns Roe v. Wade,” Michael Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, said in a statement after the ruling. “We know that this temporary restraining order is just a step in the process to finally seeing Roe reconsidered.”
