The Ohio House has already passed the heartbeat bill which would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The Ohio Senate appears ready to follow suit. And just as he did before, Gov. John Kasich says he’ll veto it. But advocates for legal abortion say Kasich’s veto is not enough.
Kellie Copeland with NARAL Pro Choice Ohio says Governor Kasich is going on all of the Sunday shows, projecting himself as a moderate to take on President Trump in 2020. But she says the very fact that the heartbeat bill would land up on his desk shows a lack of leadership on his part.
“A moderate isn’t somebody who has enacted 20 restrictions on access to reproductive health care. If he really wants to convince anyone that’s he’s not part of the extremists trying to outlaw abortion in this state and throughout the country, he needs to get up off his duff and do something," Copeland says.
Kasich vetoed the Heartbeat Bill in 2016, and says his position hasn’t changed. But now, leaders in the House and Senate say they have the votes and the time to override a veto. And incoming Governor Mike DeWine has said if it passes when he’s in office, he’ll sign it.
