COLUMBUS,
Ohio, February 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com)
– Two unborn
babies will ‘testify’ to
their humanity in a live ultrasound
before an Ohio House committee that
is considering a bill that would ban
abortion as soon as an unborn baby’s
heartbeat is detected.
State
Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R-75th district),
chairman of the House Health Committee,
has sponsored HR 125,
“the Heartbeat Bill,” a
measure which would in theory end up
banning most surgical abortions.
An
unborn child’s heartbeat is generally
accepted as beating by 18-24 days after
conception. The earliest first trimester
abortions generally begin at 4 weeks
into pregnancy (dated from the last
menstrual period).
Pro-life
supporters of the measure say the two
unborn babies, including one at nine
weeks gestation, would become the youngest
human beings ever to testify before
the Health Committee.
“For
the first time in a committee hearing,
legislators will be able to see and
hear the beating heart of a baby in
the womb – just like the ones
the Heartbeat Bill will protect,”
said Janet Porter, President of Faith2Action.
Porter is the former Legislative Director
of Ohio Right to Life, where she helped
pass the nation’s first ban on
partial birth abortion.
Ohio
passed two partial birth abortion bans
– the first ban, passed in 1995,
was found unconstitutional by a federal
appeals court in 1997. Another partial
birth abortion ban passed by Ohio in
2000 later passed the federal court’s
constitutional muster because it included
a narrow health exemption and excluded
D&E (Dilation and Evacuation) abortion
procedures.
In
a statement, Porter said the committee
will be able to see the unborn child’s
moving arms and legs via an ultrasound
projector, which will also display in
color the unborn child’s beating
heart.
“When passed, the Heartbeat Bill
will insure that once that heartbeat
is detected, the baby is protected,”
said Porter.
The
measure has the endorsement of National
Right to Life co-founder Dr. Jack Willke,
who stated, “Ohio can see history
repeat and lead the way.”
Pro-life
advocates said that lawmakers in Georgia
and Texas are studying the Ohio bill
with the intention of introducing their
own versions in their respective state
legislatures.
Wachtmann’s
“Heartbeat Bill” had 50
co-sponsors – half the Ohio House
of Representatives – when he formally
introduced the measure on February 24.
Thousands of heart-shaped balloons were
sent to state lawmakers on Valentine’s
Day as part of a pro-life grassroots
campaign to raise awareness about the
measure. Pro-life advocates had hoped
at the time that they would be able
to get the bill formally introduced
in committee by February 14.
The
bill does not have the support of Ohio
Right to Life for tactical reasons and
doubts over its overall chances for
success. Michael Gonidakis, Ohio Right
to Life’s current executive director,
has explained to media outlets that
their concern is that the bill would
ultimately not survive a court challenge,
and thus not end up saving unborn lives.
His
organization is sponsoring other measures,
including a late-term abortion ban that
would prohibit abortion after 20 weeks
gestation. Doctors would have to perform
tests to determine if an unborn child
would be viable outside the mother’s
womb, and would be prohibited from aborting
if that were the case.
Gonidakis
has stated that the bill could end up
immediately saving 700 unborn babies
in Ohio every year if enacted.
Overall,
late-term abortions represent the tip
of the iceberg in the United States
as far as the total number of abortions
is concerned. The Guttmacher Institute,
a pro-abortion research firm that was
founded by Planned Parenthood, says
that late-term abortions (past 21 weeks)
represent 1.5 percent of the total number
of U.S. abortions. Approximately 88
percent of unborn children aborted were
killed by the 12th week of pregnancy.
The vast majority of these early abortions
(61.8 percent) were committed on unborn
children less than eight weeks old.