When Janet Porter returned to her native Ohio to push her extreme Heartbeat Bill, which would effectively ban abortion in the vast majority of cases, she couldn’t muster the support of her former employer, the Ohio Right to Life Society. Porter, who leads Faith 2 Action, helped launch a group called Ohio ProLife Action that is dedicated to passing the radical legislation, which already passed in the State House and will soon have a hearing in the State Senate. While the fate of the Heartbeat Bill is still up in the air, it has already created huge divides among anti-choice activists in Ohio.
The Warren County and Geauga County affiliates of the Ohio Right to Life Society have disaffiliated and joined Ohio ProLife Action, and yesterday the Greater Cincinnati chapter, which claims to be “Ohio’s largest Right to Life chapter and birthplace of the Right to Life movement,” announced that is also leaving to join Porter’s new group. While Ohio Right to Life Society has argued that the Heartbeat Bill is unconstitutional, Porter has claimed that it is the best attempt to overturn Roe and return God’s blessings to America.
The Greater Cincinnati chapter said in a statement [pdf]:
Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati—Ohio’s largest Right to Life chapter and birthplace of the Right to Life movement—is formally joining the newly created state group Ohio ProLife Action, established to support House Bill 125, Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill. It is reluctantly disaffiliating from the Ohio Right to Life Society at this time.
…
Along with two thirds of Ohio’s Right to Life chapters, Cincinnati Right to Life has been dismayed that Ohio Right to Life has chosen to oppose and undermine the efforts to pass this landmark bill.
…
Cincinnati Right to Life extends its full support to Ohio ProLife Action, and all state legislators who courageously stand for life and support House Bill 125. Cincinnati Right to Life also, again, extends the invitation to our colleagues at Ohio Right to Life to join in this unprecedented step toward ending abortion in Ohio and beyond.
