New GOP-backed bill would ban abortion in Ohio

COLUMBUS - Ohio's GOP lawmakers want to ban abortions – a likely violation of federal law.

A bill from two Republican lawmakers, introduced Monday, would ban all abortions in Ohio. Doctors could be charged with murder or sued for the wrongful deaths of aborted fetuses, according to the proposal. Kentucky lawmakers are considering a similar ban.

In recent years, Ohio lawmakers have limited abortions by restricting them to earlier in a pregnancy or banning them after a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Most of these efforts took aim at Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ensured access to most abortions. Some of the new Ohio laws have faced legal challenges. But none take on abortion as directly as the proposal introduced this week.

Opponents of the bill fear it could charge doctors with murder, punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.

"Anti-choice extremists from the Ohio Statehouse to the White House are lining up their dominoes to topple Roe v. Wade and punish those who seek or provide abortion care," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, in a statement.

Rep. Ron Hood, R-Ashville, said he knows a federal court could find his bill unconstitutional. But that decision could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider abortion access.

"Obviously, Roe v. Wade could be revisited," Hood said.

Still, it's unlikely the proposal would pass even Ohio's GOP-controlled Legislature. Twenty House Republicans have signed onto the bill, less than a third of the majority GOP caucus.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich recently vetoed a bill that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, concerned about the money the state would spend defending a law he believed would be unconstitutional. It's likely Kasich would veto this new proposal, too.

"If it goes to his desk, it’s certainly my hope that he would sign it," Hood said. If not, Republicans could override the governor if they all voted together, he added.

In 2016, 20,672 abortions were reported in Ohio – a 16.5 percent decline since Gov. John Kasich took office in 2011, according to Ohio Department of Health records.