Late last year, Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed an extreme anti-choice measure known as the “heartbeat bill,” that would have banned abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which often happens before many women are even aware that they are pregnant.
The bill was drafted by Janet Porter, a longtime radical Religious Right activist, who bragged that it was designed to "be the arrow in the heart of Roe v. Wade" because it would eventually bring the issue before the Supreme Court, where President Trump's appointees would finally give anti-choice activists the "green light" to outlaw abortion in America. Porter said earlier this month that she hoped that “as technology improves,” the cutoff date for legal abortion under her bill would be pushed earlier and earlier into pregnancy, ultimately until "before the mother even knows she’s pregnant."
Despite her setback in Ohio, Porter has been promising that Republican members of Congress, lead by Rep. Steve King of Iowa, would soon introduce a federal version of her bill.
Today, King did just that, and was joined by one cosponsor, Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona:
Congressman Steve King released the following statement after introducing “The Heartbeat Bill,” that would require physicians to detect the heartbeat and prohibit the abortion of a baby with a beating heart:
“Since Roe v. Wade was unconstitutionally decided in 1973, nearly 60 million innocent babies' lives have been ended by the abortion industry, all with a rubber stamp by the federal government,” said King. “Human life, beginning at the moment of conception, is sacred in all of its forms and today, I introduced a bill that will protect the lives of voiceless innocents.
My legislation will require all physicians, before conducting an abortion, to detect the heartbeat of the unborn child. If a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.
America was founded on the concept that our rights come from God. All human persons have a right to life. How then could we confer that those rights allow the killing of a baby? I believe our most important responsibility that God has bestowed upon us is to protect innocent human life, and I will continue to dedicate my life to that responsibility.”
In a statement, Porter praised King and stated that the bill “will forever shift the national debate from regulating abortion to ending it.”
