Supporters of a long-sought bill to outlaw abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected came up three votes short of a victory last night in the Ohio House. The so-called heartbeat bill failed by a vote of 47-40, three votes short of the 50 needed to pass the 99-member chamber. Eleven Republicans voted no, including all four from Franklin County.

Supporters of a long-sought bill to outlaw abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected came up three votes short of a victory last night in the Ohio House.

The so-called heartbeat bill failed by a vote of 47-40, three votes short of the 50 needed to pass the 99-member chamber. Eleven Republicans voted no, including all four from Franklin County. Eleven lawmakers did not cast a vote, and there is one seat vacant.

It was the second time in two days that efforts to pass the controversial abortion ban were thwarted.

Tuesday, supporters tried to tuck House Bill 248 into a piece of legislation dealing with infant mortality, but House Speaker William G. Batchelder blocked that attempt.

The bill would prevent doctors from performing abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be heard, usually about six weeks into pregnancy. Supporters have been relentless in their lobbying efforts, calling lawmakers, holding Statehouse rallies and encouraging those who favor the bill to fast and pray until lawmakers approve it.

Last night, sponsor Christina Hagan, R-Alliance, reversed the slogan �abortion stops a beating heart,� telling her colleagues �a beating heart should stop abortion.�

She added, �I believe we need to value human life in the state of Ohio.�

Opponent John Patrick Carney, D-Columbus, who is also a health-care attorney, said the bill could force a woman to carry a baby that is clearly not going to survive the term. The experts in women�s health care and delivering babies, obstetricians and gynecologists, oppose the bill, he said.

�It�s not supported by good science. It�s not supported by good medicine. It�s only supported by emotion,� Carney said. �We should pull the emotion away and look to the experts in the state. What do the experts say? Vote no on this bill.�

Debate on the bill was cut off by a House vote after comments from those two representatives.

The efforts near the end of a busy lame-duck legislative session came as tensions over the proposal flared between the House and Senate.

The vote on the heartbeat bill would �only be a show vote,� acknowledged Rep. Matt Lynch, a Chagrin Falls Republican and leading supporter, because the Senate wouldn�t pass it.

Stephanie Kight, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio president and CEO, issued a statement immediately after the vote expressing satisfaction that representatives deemed the proposal �bad policy and bad medicine and is too extreme and dangerous to become part of Ohio law. This is a great day for women in Ohio.�

Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said in a statement: �Although we are elated that this dangerous bill has failed to be enacted again, the games that anti-choice politicians have been playing have had a chilling effect on Ohio women and their physicians. �

Had House Bill 248 passed, it was expected to die in the Senate � as a similar bill did two years ago � because Republican Senate President Keith Faber of Celina and Gov. John Kasich both oppose the legislation.

They share the concerns of many opponents of abortion that such a ban likely would be found by the courts to be unconstitutional and could jeopardize other laws restricting abortion. Similar bans in other states have been struck down.

Supporters welcome a legal challenge, hoping it could lead to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

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