Latest news with #PrenatalEqualProtectionAct
Yahoo
18 hours 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Ohio, OSU warns 'We are trying to create a constitutional debate in which we believe the state's constitution would be superseded by the U.S. Constitution,' said pro-life activist Austin Beigel, who helped craft the bill.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.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Defense attorney for suspect in Aliza Sherman's murder hints at strategy: I-Team
CLEVELAND (WJW) – The accused killer of Aliza Sherman was in court on Tuesday for his first pretrial and his attorney is now hinting on plans to fight the charges. Gregory Moore, 51, is accused of killing Sherman in 2013. Her murder went unsolved for 12 years. Moore was indicted on several charges, including aggravated murder, on May 2. His defense attorney, Jon Paul Rion, is questioning why prosecutors are filing the charges now. 'The delay in this case is of concern,' Rion said. 'It is not clear if there is any new evidence.' What is the Prenatal Equal Protection Act? New bill would effectively ban abortion in Ohio Prosecutors allege the murder happened because Moore was not prepared to take her case to trial. Prosecutors have also said there is technology available now that was not available more than a decade ago when the murder happened. 'You have a due process right to have a trial within a reasonable period of time, when all the witnesses and evidence are available for both sides,' Rion said. 'If there are material witnesses or other evidence no longer in existence that could adversely affect the defendant, in this case Greg Moore, the court has to look if it's even fair to have a trial.' Cleveland Clinic to extend hours for surgeries, specialty appointments at many NE Ohio locations Sherman's estranged husband died last year. Prosecutor's have said he was not a suspect in the case. Moore remains jailed on a $2 million bond but his attorney said he may file a motion asking for a bond reduction. Moore is due back in court next month. His trial date has been set for March 30. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State lawmakers are weighing bills that would treat abortion as homicide
Lawmakers in at least eight states are weighing bills that would treat abortion as a homicide, imposing criminal penalties on both providers and patients, once a Rubicon for the movement. The bills, filed in Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas, stem from the Prenatal Equal Protection Act, model legislation crafted by the Texas-based advocacy group the Foundation to Abolish Abortion. Three similar bills were introduced in Indiana, North Dakota and Oklahoma but failed to pass in committee or on the floor of the legislature. In addition to banning abortion, the bills, which argue that life begins at fertilization, could outlaw fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization. No state abortion ban explicitly criminalizes pregnant people, and efforts to enact such a policy have consistently failed. Polling shows that most Americans support the right to abortion, and that they specifically oppose penalizing people who seek them. Still, the number of these homicide bills — last year, only three were introduced across the country, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights — suggests that abortion opponents are growing more receptive to directly punishing people who terminate their pregnancies. 'It's not surprising, though it's incredibly chilling and alarming,' said Lizzie Hinkley, the center's senior state legislative counsel. 'Anti-abortion activists are motivated to push the envelope as far as they can.' In Georgia, where abortion is currently outlawed after six weeks of pregnancy, lawmakers heard hours of testimony on one such bill, which drew opposition even from anti-abortion activists in the state. 'This is a bad bill. It's bad for women,' testified Elizabeth Edmonds, who has worked as an anti-abortion lobbyist in the state and still supports abortion restrictions. That bill is not slated for a committee vote, which it needs to advance. Similar legislation in other states has also not moved forward. Still, abortion opponents are still finding support on other types of bills. In Texas, for instance, lawmakers have rallied around a bill that would stop cities and municipalities from supporting people traveling out of state for abortions and another that seeks to prevent people from ordering abortion medications online. In South Carolina, where abortion is currently banned after six weeks of pregnancy, 38 lawmakers backed a bill that would outlaw virtually all abortions. Proponents of bills that would treat abortion as homicide — which they call 'abolitionist' abortion policy — acknowledge they are still outside of the anti-abortion movement's mainstream. 'Most major Pro-Life lobby organizations and leaders still oppose equal protection,' Bradley Pierce, who heads the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, wrote in an email to The 19th. 'They oppose abolitionist legislation, which provides that everyone should be equally subject to the law and everyone's life should be equally protected by the law. Instead, they support a policy that singles out women to grant them legal immunity to commit prenatal homicide.' But more state lawmakers are expressing interest in reclassifying abortion as homicide and criminalizing pregnant people, Pierce said. The Georgia bill has attracted 21 sponsors, the most support one of his five year-old organization's bills has ever had, he said. South Carolina's bill has 10 sponsors. Despite failing to pass, a similar bill in North Dakota received 16 votes. A dozen states have banned abortion almost entirely and four more have banned it after six weeks. Two ban it after the end of the first trimester, and still more have imposed other restrictions on the procedure. But workarounds such as travel and telehealth mean that the number of abortions in the United States has actually increased since the fall of Roe v. Wade — a development that has left abortion opponents scrambling for new approaches. Three years ago, similar abortion bills — also the work of Pierce's foundation — were introduced in 13 states, only making it out of committee in Louisiana. But even in that state, where lawmakers largely oppose abortion, the prospect of criminal penalties for pregnant people appeared to be a step too far. 'The most prominent national organizations don't support anything that would criminalize the mother,' Sarah Zargoski, a spokesperson for Louisiana Right to Life, said at the time. Still, repeated efforts to introduce these bills could chip away at that perspective, Hinkley said. 'Whether they're enacted or not this year, they're going to be normalized in certain circles,' she said. The post State lawmakers are weighing bills that would treat abortion as homicide appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
