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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is the Prenatal Equal Protection Act? New bill would effectively ban abortion in Ohio
(WJW) — On Wednesday, Republican State Reps. Levi Dean and Johnathan Newman are set to introduce a controversial new bill at the Ohio Statehouse that would ban abortion in the Buckeye State. The legislation is called the Prenatal Equal Protection Act, and it aims to extend full legal rights to fetuses from the moment of fertilization. Bagworm outbreak threat growing in Ohio, OSU warns 'We are trying to create a constitutional debate in which we believe the state's constitution would be superseded by the U.S. Constitution,' said pro-life activist Austin Beigel, who helped craft the bill. Beigel, a member of End Abortion Ohio, said the legislation is about ensuring what he sees as equal protection for all life — born or unborn. 'To simply say this is a person in the womb, out of the womb — we know they are human. We believe all people deserve legal protection under the law,' he said. Supporters of the bill argue it is not about politics, but about morality. 'It is not going to permit the killing of innocent human beings, innocent people,' Beigel added. But opponents said the bill defies the will of Ohio voters, who passed a constitutional amendment in 2023 explicitly protecting access to abortion. 'I mean, we knew on Nov. 7, 2023, that there would be plans to undermine the will of the Ohio voter,' said Jordyn Close, deputy director of the Ohio Women's Alliance. Close said she first learned of the proposed legislation last week and was troubled by what she found. 'This bill does not account for any special circumstances. It does not account for any real-life realities for Ohioans who need abortion care,' she said. Baby delivered from brain-dead woman on life support in Georgia The bill argues that Ohio's constitutional amendment legalizing abortion should be considered invalid, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection clause. But Close believes that argument won't hold up in court. 'Our fantastic legal team and legal scholars will be able to defeat this,' she said. Supporters of the legislation are expected to hold a rally inside the Statehouse from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday as the bill is officially filed. Whether the bill gains traction in the legislature remains to be seen, but the fight over abortion rights in Ohio appears far from over. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
5 days ago
- Politics
Ohio lawmakers to introduce bill banning abortion, criminalizing the procedure
Republican lawmakers in Ohio are planning on introducing a bill on Wednesday that would ban almost all abortions and criminalize the procedure. The " Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act" would overturn the amendment to the Ohio constitution, voted on in 2023, that establishes "an individual right to one's own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion" before viability. Reproductive medical treatment includes contraception, fertility treatments and miscarriage care. Abortions are currently allowed up to 20 weeks since fertilization, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that studies sexual and reproductive rights. "[It] is a very, very simple and beautiful piece of legislation in that all it does is identify all human beings as persons deserving equal protection of the law, both born humans and pre-born humans," anti-abortion advocate Austin Beigel, with End Abortion Ohio, told ABC News. "So, it identifies those personhood rights starting at the moment of fertilization, when the new distinct organism is formed, the new human life that being that person now has equal protection under the law." Kellie Copeland, executive director of Abortion Forward, which helped pass the 2023 amendment in Ohio, said the bill goes against the will of voters. "This is the most extreme and anti-life legislation that you can imagine," she told ABC News. "It would strip Ohioans of their constitutionally guaranteed right to bodily autonomy, and that's the goal of this legislation." When Beigel was asked if he was concerned that the bill may go against the will of the voters, he said he was not because "the will of the voters was evil." "In many times in our country's history, the majority of people have desired evil things. We have discriminated horribly against the Black man and woman, and people wanted that," he continued. "So, I have no qualms about saying I oppose the majority of the will of the people when the people desire something that is evil." Copeland replied that "subjecting people to the loss of bodily autonomy, taking basic human rights away from Ohioans is the real evil that we're talking about here." Beigel said he has been working with Republican state Reps. Levi Dean and Jonathan Newman on the bill, which uses the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause -- part of the Fourteenth Amendment -- to override Ohio's constitutional amendment. Beigel said the co-sponsors will be announced on Wednesday. Dean's and Newman's offices did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment. The bill would ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exceptions would be for a spontaneous miscarriage or to save the life of the pregnant woman. The bill would also criminalize those who have abortions, not just the providers who perform the procedure. Copeland she is worried the bill could lead to attacks on people who support abortion rights or who underwent abortions. "When people equate reproductive health care with murder, that kind of rhetoric invites violence," Copeland said. "It invites violence that we have seen at abortion clinics that we have seen perpetrated against abortion providers." Beigel said the bill does not outlaw contraception and is not designed to outlaw in-vitro fertilization (IVF). However, he did say that IVF may not be able to function the way that it does now if the bill is passed because it would apply equal protection to "pre-born humans." "The courts are going to have to debate the implications of this," he said. "Is it actually moral to freeze a young human being in a cryochamber and preserve them at the age they are and not let them grow?" Ohio's history of abortion bills In 2019, Ohio lawmakers passed a so-called heartbeat bill that bans abortions after cardiac activity can be detected, which occurs as early as six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they're pregnant. It was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine. The ban had no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exceptions were cases of ectopic pregnancies and to prevent the mother's death or impairment of a major bodily function. A federal judge blocked the ban in 2019, but it was reinstated just hours after the Supreme Court decision to overrule Roe v. Wade. In September 2022, an Ohio lower court granted a temporary restraining order before granting a preliminary injunction a few weeks later. In December 2023, the state's Supreme Court dismissed the state's appeal and sent the case back to the lower courts. In November 2023, 57% of voters approved the passing of the amendment, adding abortion protections to the state constitution. Much of the six-week ban was rendered unconstitutional after the amendment went into effect in December 2023, Ohio's Attorney General Dave Yost said earlier this year. However, some lawmakers have tried to maintain other parts of the ban, including reporting requirements and a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion can be administered. An Ohio judge in August 2024.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio Democratic lawmakers propose ‘Contraception Begins at Erection Act'
State Rep. Anita Somani, D-Dublin, talks with people gathered for the Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom rally for Issue 1, October 8, 2023, outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original article.) A new bill in Ohio would make it a crime for men to ejaculate without intending to have a baby. 'You don't get pregnant on your own,' state Rep. Anita Somani, D-Dublin, said. In between performing multiple surgeries as an OBGYN Friday, the Democrat explained that she wants to start regulating men's reproductive health care. 'If you're going to penalize someone for an unwanted pregnancy, why not penalize the person who is also responsible for the pregnancy?' she said. She introduced legislation that would make it a felony for men to 'discharge semen without the intent to fertilize.' Somani and state Rep. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, joined forces to propose a bill nicknamed 'Conception Begins at Erection Act.' There are some exceptions, such as when protection or contraceptions are used during sex. It also wouldn't apply when an individual is masturbating, donating sperm, or if the intercourse takes place between members of the LGBTQ+ community and thus doesn't 'produce ova.' So what this would apply to is sex without a condom and without actually wanting to procreate. This felony would cost violators thousands of dollars, with a max of $10,000 per discharge. 'It's beyond ridiculous what's going on here,' Republican activist Austin Beigel laughed. 'It's a mockery of the most basic biological concepts.' The humorous aspect is something both Beigel and Somani agree on. 'If you think it's absurd to regulate men, then you should think it's equally absurd to regulate women,' Somani responded. 'So this is to make a statement,' she said. 'It is a statement,' Somani said with a laugh. Ohio voters overwhelmingly legalized and protected the right to abortion in 2023. Issue 1 passed 57%-43%, and it enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution. Ohioans have the right to make their own decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing pregnancy. The state is prohibited from interfering with or penalizing someone for exercising this right. Despite this, anti-abortion advocates like Beigel are trying to reverse it. He is the president of End Abortion Ohio. He said that in the coming weeks, lawmakers will introduce a new bill to criminalize abortion totally. 'It just says human life begins at conception,' he said. 'Therefore, all the protections that are offered to other people under the state law are also offered to the pre-born.' He said the bill is called the Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act. 'It will be being introduced very soon,' he said. Beigel believes the legislation could hold up in court because of the equal protection provision in the U.S. Constitution. He said the state constitution is now in violation of the 14th Amendment to the federal charter. Legal experts have routinely criticized this argument, saying it won't hold up. Beigel knows there will be a legal challenge, but he is also trying to normalize the idea of a total ban. By continuing to introduce it, it may get passed further down the line, he argued. 'Would this bill be going against the will of the voters?' Beigel was asked. 'Yeah, look back at American history… The issue of slavery was popular with the majority at certain times, and so it is absolutely possible for the majority of a state's populace to support something that's evil and something that's wrong,' he responded. Somani has criticized that argument throughout the years for being inaccurate, while Democrats have called it racist to suggest abortion is similar to slavery. The nonstop effort of anti-abortion activists is one of the reasons why this legislation is needed, the Democrat said. 'Just like abortion bills have penalized physicians or created felonies for physicians and patients, the intent of the bill is to show that we should not be policing any anybody's reproductive rights,' Somani said. Beigel added that he understands that Somani is being satirical but that she is missing the mark. 'The pro-life movement has never tried to regulate women's bodies,' he claimed. 'We're trying to regulate the actions of people who want to kill another person.' He said that Somani's bill is invasive and isn't based on science, questioning how the Democrats are spending their time. 'If they think that it's a waste of taxpayer money, well, then they should think the same on the other side,' the doctor responded. She is also sick of the Republicans choosing which bills are 'jokes' or not since she thinks their legislation 'destroying public education in the state' or 'not supporting kids getting free meals at school' are both absurd. 'I think this hits the idea of 'Republican freedom' and 'men's freedom,' and so that's why it's touching such a big nerve,' Somani said. This bill likely isn't conceivable in the GOP-controlled legislature, but it is heating up the conversation. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
