· May 16, 2014

Rep Hood Tries to Force Vote on Heartbeat Bill

The controversial Heartbeat Bill is back in the news. The Heartbeat Bill, HB 248, was introduced in the fall and hasn’t received any hearings. The bill would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat was detected. In other states Federal courts have ruled against this type of legislation. If the bill did pass in Ohio, it would likely lead to a long battle in the courts. Noting that he’d like to see a vote prior to the house recessing for the Summer, Representative Hood announced that he would begin circulating a discharge petition to force the bill out of committee and to floor vote. In order for this to happen 50 members of the House must sign on. A similar bill was passed by the house in 2011, however it died in the Senate. Representative Hood has indicated that he is relying on constituents to push their Representative to sign the petition. Now’s the time to speak up and let the Ohio House know that Ohioans do not support this bill. Call your representative today, ask them not to sign the discharge petition and let them know that you are opposed to this legislation. You can determine who your Representative is here.