Ohio is in dire straights, so of course state lawmakers are spending their time trying to limit the right to choose instead of facing the myriad of real issues troubling the Buckeye State.

State Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, a Republican from Henry County, has introduced legislation to make abortion illegal as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. Forty of 99 Ohio representatives have signed onto the bill.

The “Heartbeat Bill” would essentially ban abortion in Ohio. A fetal heartbeat can be detected usually within the first eight to 12 weeks of pregnancy. By the time someone to finds out about a pregnancy, makes a decision about it and wades through mandatory red tape like counseling and a waiting period, it would probably be too late to have an abortion.

Other pro-life bills the Ohio Legislature has been wasting its time on:

Two House bills prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks or 22 weeks

A bill requiring judges who waive parental consent to a minor’s abortion to gather evidence that indicates the young mother understands the impact of an abortion.

A ban on all private insurance coverage for abortion-related services through the federal health care act, if any tax dollars are used for the procedure

Legislation to prohibit health insurance coverage for abortion if it’s subsidized with federal tax money

A ban on late-term abortions, which represent a fraction of all such procedures performed in Ohio annually. State Rep. Joseph Uecker, a Republican from Loveland, proposed this legislation and he claims the legislation has enough co-sponsors to pass.

Uecker is my state representative and he is a monster. I have previously met with his office to discuss sexual assault survivors access (or lack thereof) to Plan B in Ohio. His aide met with me, sporting her precious feet lapel pin that Uecker requires his staff to wear. She was very gracious and explained to me that I was supposed to meet directly with my representative, but something had suddenly come up and he had to return to the district. She also went on to say Uecker was very upset when he learned his aide had scheduled me to meet with him directly.

Needless to say, I’ll be calling Uecker to remind him of the platform he used when running for office — all those things he said about creating jobs and putting Ohio back on track. Hopefully, he’s not too busy setting back abortion rights in Ohio to talk to me.

UPDATE: The Ohio Senate has introduced a bill similar to Uecker’s. If approved, the bill would ban late-term abortions, which make up a fraction of the abortions performed in Ohio.