JOHN KASICH, OHIO GOVERNOR, VETOES BILL BANNING ABORTIONS IF FETAL HEARTBEAT IS DETECTABLE
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
On December 13, Ohio Governor John Kasich (shown) vetoed the
Heartbeat Bill, which would have banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat
can be detected. Kasich’s veto was of the “line-item” type and was
accomplished by means of “veto messages” that disapproved of two items
contained in Amended Substitute House Bill 493. The “heartbill bill” —
as the abortion ban was commonly called — was part of Item Number 1.
In his message, Kasich offered the following explanation for vetoing that portion of the appropriation bill:
strengthen Ohio’s protections for the sanctity of human life, and I have
deep respect for my fellow members of the pro-life community and their
ongoing efforts in defense of unborn life. Certain provisions that were
amended into Am. Sub. HB 493, however, are clearly contrary to the
Supreme Court of the United States’ current rulings on abortion.
states has twice been declared unconstitutional by federal judges, and
the Supreme Court declined to review those decisions. Because the
federal courts are bound to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling on
abortion, the amendment to Am. Sub. HB 493 will be struck down. 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. Furthermore, such a defeat invites additional
challenges to Ohio’s strong legal protections for unborn life.
Therefore, this veto is in the public interest.
The two similar laws passed by other states that Kasich referred to
were passed by North Dakota and Arkansas in 2013, but struck down by
separate rulings by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2014 and
2015.
Both states’ attempts to appeal the decisions to the Supreme Court
were rejected in January, when the high court declined to review the
cases.
However, Kasich’s decision to veto the item containing the
“heartbeat” provision might be described as both pragmatic and
fatalistic. It was pragmatic because he indicated that part of his
rationale for the veto is that an unsuccessful lawsuit might cost
“hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.” By so stating, Kasich put a
price tag on human life. How much is a human life worth? If the lives
of thousands of unborn babies might have been saved by the legislation,
then an arbitrary price of a hundred dollars per life might be
considered a bargain by many pro-life activists.
Kasich’s emphatic presumption that “Am. Sub. HB 493 will be struck down” (not might be struck down, but will
be struck down) is a sort of fatalistic pessimism that — if allowed to
metastasize— might doom the entire pro-life movement. Pro-life
legislation, from the time of Roe v Wade in 1973, has more
often than not been struck down by federal judges. However, the
difference between victory and defeat in the history of warfare is that
those who are ultimately victorious has picked themselves up after each
defeat and gone on to win. As Theodore Roosevelt once said:
to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take
rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much,
because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor
defeat.
The Ohio legislators who added the heartbeat language to the
appropriations bill were not naïve. They knew there was a chance that a
federal judge might find the legislation unconstitutional. But they knew
that there was also a chance that the bill might pass constitutional
muster. Judges are unpredictable. Considering this, the pro-life
legislators thought it was worth their while to seek victory, rather
than run up a white flag in anticipation of defeat. When Ohio Senate
President Keith Faber was asked by the Columbus Dispatch why the “heartbeat” measure was quickly and unexpectedly passed, despite opposition from Democrats in the legislature, he said:
The Dispatch reported that the Heartbeat Bill had passed the
Senate by a veto-proof margin (21-10), but it did not do so in the
House (56-39). Therefore three-fifths of lawmakers in the House (60)
would have to vote to override a veto. If votes remained the same as the
initial vote, there is insufficient support to override the governor’s
veto.
Janet Porter, head of the conservative Christian group Faith2Action,
which had lobbied for a Heartbeat Bill for years, said after the veto:
“It’s not over. We are two votes away [in the House] from overriding
Gov. Kasich’s betrayal of life.” Porter said she believes two
legislators not present for last week’s vote would now vote to override
Kasich’s veto, so she will be looking for two more votes in the House.
On the same day he vetoed the heartbeat portion of the appropriations
bill, Kasich signed into law a second bill (SB 127) banning abortions
after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
“I agree with Ohio Right to Life and other leading, pro-life
advocates that SB 127 is the best, most legally sound and sustainable
approach to protecting the sanctity of human life,” Kasich said in a
statement. He described himself as working hard “to strengthen Ohio’s
protections for the sanctity of human life.”
In a statement quoted by the Dispatch, Ohio Right to Life
President Michael Gonidakis supported Kasich’s decision to veto the
Heartbeat Bill, which the group opposed.
“The 20-week ban was nationally designed to be the vehicle to end
abortion in America. It challenges the current national abortion
standard and properly moves the legal needle from viability to the
baby’s ability to feel pain,” he said.
“Given the current make-up of the United States Supreme Court,
Governor Kasich got it right by embracing the strategic incremental
approach to ending abortion,” Gonidakis said.
Senate Bill 127 specifically forbids termination of “a human
pregnancy of a pain-capable unborn child.” The fact that it is an
improvement over current Ohio state law, which forbids abortions after
24 weeks, probably explains the group’s support for it. However, a more
zealous pro-life supporter might consider this strategy to be similar to
a football play that opts for an easy field goal instead of attempting a
more difficult touchdown.
In its coverage of Kasich’s action, Lifenews.com, a leading pro-life
website, put the governor’s signing of the 20-week bill In bright lights
in the headline, and mentioned his veto of the heartbeat bill in the
article in language that accepted his reasoning without challenge.
After quoting from Kasich’s statement linking his veto to a similar position from Ohio Right to Life,” the LifeNews report said:
will not likely survive a legal challenge in court, pro-life legislators
approved the 20-week abortion ban with the hope of saving as many
babies as possible under Roe v. Wade.
thanked Kasich for signing the 20-week ban — saying it would save
hundreds of babies from abortions.
The article went on to quote Ohio Right to Life’s effusive praise of
Kasich’s decision to sign the easier bill and veto the more difficult
one. Part of the quote stated:
Kasich’s decision to bypass the heartbeat legislative approach at this
time. While it must have been difficult, the current make-up of a
radically pro-abortion Supreme Court required the Governor to exercise
great restraint. Further, filling the current vacancy on the Court by
our next President will still leave the court with a pro-abortion
majority….
the heartbeat approach, Governor Kasich provided strong pro-life
leadership to finally engage a winnable battle with the federal
judiciary while saving countless babies at the same time.
As noted above, not all pro-lifers agree with Ohio Right to Life,
including Janet Porter, head of Faith2Action, who called the veto “Gov.
Kasich’s betrayal of life.”
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Ex-Planned Parenthood Director Details Sales of Aborted Baby Parts