Dayton Daily News - "Heartbeat" Bill to Limit Abortions Gets First Hearing

By William Hershey, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News

Backers of the Heartbeat Bill to limit abortions on Wednesday used an ultrasound projector so members of a House committee could hear heartbeats of unborn babies carried by two women - one 15 weeks pregnant and the other nine weeks present.

House Bill 125 would require a doctor to check if an unborn baby a woman is carrying has a heartbeat before performing an abortion.

If a heartbeat is detected, an abortion would be prohibited, except to preserve the life or health of the mother, said Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, R-Napoleon, sponsor of the bill.

When enacted, this bill will be the nations strongest pro-life bill, Wachtmann, also chairman of the Health Committee which is hearing the bill.

Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, which opposes the bill, called the ultrasound demonstration a stunt.

Theyre more interested in that than they are in womens health, Copeland said.

Wachtmann applauded the unusual presentation.

I think it kind of hits you in the head about whats going on in the mothers womb, Wachtmann said. Its a bit of an eye opener.

Hearings could take from four to six weeks, Wachtmann said, before a committee vote to send the bill to the House floor.

The heartbeat demonstration was provided by Ducia Hamm, executive director of the Ashland Care Center in Ashland, Ohio. Two women, Heather Raubenolt, 15 weeks pregnant, and Erin Glockner, nine weeks pregnant, were connected separately to a monitor and the movements of their unborn babies was projected on a screen and the heartbeats played over a speaker.

While the bill has 49 cosponsors, the Ohio Right to Life Society does not support it because it believes there is no scenario under which a court would uphold it.

However, Walter M. Weber, senior litigation counsel for the American Center of Law and Justice, told the committee he believes the bill would be constitutional.

You can read the complete story here.