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Congressional Black Caucus chair Marcia Fudge, a Democrat from Warrensville Heights, unveiled a bill on Wednesday that would overturn state abortion restrictions.

(Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights on Wednesday joined a group of Democratic legislators to unveil legislation that would preempt recently passed abortion restrictions in Ohio and other states.

The proposed law would ban states from singling out abortion providers for "restrictions that are more burdensome than those restrictions imposed on medically comparable procedures" and block them from prohibiting abortion prior to fetal viability and afterwards, if a doctor decides pregnancy would jeopardize a woman's health.

Advocates of the bill said such a federal law is needed because of a concerted effort in many states, including Ohio, to pass measures designed to shut down abortion clinics by passing "unnecessary laws" to hinder their operations.

Fudge cited a recent budget bill in Ohio that defunded Planned Parenthood, restricted grants to rape crisis centers that refer women for abortions, and imposed unworkable hospital transfer regulations as a reason such the new law is warranted. She said new rules helped close four abortion clinics in the state this year, including one in Cleveland.

“Restrictive laws like the one passed in Ohio make it extremely difficult, and sometimes nearly impossible, for a woman to obtain essential reproductive health care services,” said Fudge, calling the Republican legislators in Ohio who backed the restrictions “hypocrites” for interfering with women’s private medical decisions while preaching limited government.

National Abortion Rights Action League President Ilyse Hogue said that by including controversial abortion provisions in a budget bill, Ohio's state legislature was trying to prevent the issue from seeing "the light of day where the public can debate it."

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the state of Ohio in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, claiming the budget bill's anti-abortion provisions are unconstitutional.

Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis predicted the new state laws will pass muster in courts, and called the ACLU lawsuit a "pro-abortion legal stunt" that would drain money that could otherwise be spent to help poor pregnant women.

National Right to Life Committee legislative director Douglas Johnson called the bill Fudge supports a "radical" measure that would prohibit any impediment to abortion.

"The whole premise of this bill is that abortion has to be treated just like any other medical service, like a flu shot, but that is not a premise that many people agree with," Johnson said.

Congress members and U.S. Senators who back the proposal acknowledged it has little chance to become law when Republicans who oppose abortion, like House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, control the U.S. House of Representatives. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said introduction of the "Women's Health Protection Act of 2013" would "send a message to state legislatures that the epidemic of measures that restrict women's health care will not be tolerated." He predicted it would become an issue in upcoming elections and that voters will ask candidates where they stand on the bill.

Asked whether she thinks the bill has a chance of being brought up in the House of Representatives, Fudge replied: "Who knows? But we can’t stop trying.”

Republicans who oppose abortion are pressing their own bills in Congress to further limit the procedure. Because Democrats who back abortion rights control the U.S. Senate, their likelihood of success is also slim. Last week, U.S. Sen Rob Portman of Ohio joined South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and several dozen Senate Republicans to introduce a bill that would ban abortion nationwide after a woman is pregnant for 20 weeks.

"With all the innovative medical treatments now available, more Americans are realizing that we are talking about children that deserve protection," said a statement Portman released on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Groups that back abortion rights denounced the bill backed by Portman as "dangerous," and said women should have the option to get late term abortions if serious medical problems or severe fetal abnormalities arise. Planned Parenthood Federation of America noted that nearly 99 percent of U.S. abortions occur before 21 weeks' gestation. They said women and their doctors should make abortion decisions, not politicians.

Portman said the legislation has widespread support from Americans and would make abortion more rare. He said it passed the House of Representatives this summer by a 229-196 vote.

Asked whether the bill would have any chance of passing in a Senate controlled by Democrats, Portman said even if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada won't let the bill itself come up for a vote, the Senate could adopt it as an amendment to another bill.

"Because it is the U.S. Senate, you never know," Portman told reporters last week.