The Ohio Legislature [official website] passed the “Heartbeat Bill” [text, PDF] on Tuesday that would ban abortions when the heartbeat of the fetus can be detected. The bill [official summary] would make it a fifth degree felony to perform an abortion if there is a detectable heartbeat, unless there is a risk of death or a “serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.” The bill also defines “conception” as fertilization, which, according to many opposers, would detrimentally impact rape and incest victims by preventing access to contraceptives. If passed, Ohio would have one of the toughest restrictions [CNN report] on abortions in the US. According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio (ACLU) [advocacy website], the bill could ban abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy and “unconstitutionally restrict women’s access to reproductive healthcare” [press release]. The bill is currently awaiting approval or veto by Governor John Kasich [official website].

Abortion in general continues to be a highly controversial subject in the US. In February Kasich signed [JURIST report] a bill [text, PDF] into law that prohibits state contracts with organizations that promote or perform abortions. In July the Alaska Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the state’s parental “notification law” requiring doctors to inform the parents of minors seeking an abortion is unconstitutional, and cannot be enforced. Earlier the same month a US district judge issued a preliminary injunction [JURIST report] against a law intended to cut state funding to clinics administering abortions. Also in July a federal judge placed an injunction [JURIST report] on an Indiana law that would have banned women from seeking abortion procedures when they are based on race, sex, or the potential for or actual diagnosis of a disability in the fetus. In June the Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] that a Texas law [HB2 text] imposing certain requirements on abortion clinics and doctors creates an undue burden on access to abortion and is therefore unconstitutional [JURIST report]. Over the last few years, similar fetal heartbeat abortion bans have been attempted in Arkansas, Alabama and North Dakota [JURIST reports].