Heartbeat Bill backer Janet Folger Porter said that’s the heartbeat of an 18 week old fetus. The sweet-looking bears were given to Senators to encourage them to pass the heartbeat bill that was passed in the house in 2011.

Then a few weeks later, on Valentines Day, the sweet smell of red roses filled the Statehouse as Folger Porter’s group sent lawmakers flowers to, once again, urge passage of the bill.

Republican Representative Lynn Wachtman, the sponsor of the legislation, assured reporters the roses were not a gimmick.

I don’t think it’s a stunt. I think sending a message about roses speaks volumes about how many of us in the house and senate care about the unborn. I’m not sure there’s anyone you can care for more than them.

But while heartbeat bill backers were sending bears and roses, opponents of the legislation were sending messages to Senators, urging them to thwart the bill. Opponents said the climate at the Statehouse had become a war on women and dubbed male lawmakers supporting the legislation the “masters of the uterus.” Democratic Senator Charleta Tavares:

We are no longer chattle. We no longer belong to condescending patronizing men who want to tell us what’s best for us. They don’t live in our bodies.

As the battle over the heartbeat bill continued, its backers took a harsher tone….airing television ads in Senator’s districts, urging abortion opponents to put pressure on their senator to pass the bill.

But Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus, a main target of those messages, remained concerned about the bill’s constitutionality.

“There are a lot of well meaning people who are sending emails to take action on a piece of legislation where frankly, they had no indication of what the implications are.,” Niehaus says.

Senators weren’t the only ones questioning the bill’s constitutionality.

Ohio’s largest anti-abortion group, Ohio Right to Life, came out against the bill, and county Right to Life organizations began splitting off from the state group because of that opposition.

Ohio Right to Life made some leadership changes over the summer, and after the presidential election, the group’s opposition to the Heartbeat Bill was silenced.

But Senate President Niehaus continued to oppose the bill, so much so that he used a maneuver to put it in committee where it couldn’t be passed by the end of the year.

That’s when Folger Porter issued this warning to Senators to pass a discharge petition in an attempt to go around Niehaus.

Because if they don’t care enough to sign that discharge petition, then I don’t care enough to ever help them again.

But outgoing Senate President Niehaus wasn’t swayed, and the bill eventually died.

But it wasn’t the only one that sparked controversy. Ohio Right to Life backed another bill that would have taken government money for family planning away from Planned Parenthood.

Gonadakis – “We have over 290 facilities in the state of Ohio; approximately 160 community health centers and about 130 local departments of health where young women are going that are need based,” said Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonadakis.

“And that’s where these funds should be going. They should not be going to the nation’s largest abortion provider.”

Planned Parenthood stressed no government funding is being used for abortions. And the organization pointed out that abortions make up a small part of its services. Backers of the group, like Democratic State Senator Nina Turner, criticized opponents who wanted to do away with the organization.

They’ve got this illusion about abortion that is the rhetoric of the ridiculous.

In the end, it was Senate President Niehaus who stopped the Planned Parenthood defunding bill, just like he did with the heartbeat abortion legislature.

Niehaus said the Senate got the bill too late to give it the serious consideration it deserved.

The new Senate could make a big difference in women’s issues next year: Backers of both the Planned Parenthood bill and the Heartbeat Bill promise to resurrect them with lawmakers.

And next time around, the Senate will be headed by Senator Keith Faber, a Republican who’s considered to be more conservative than Niehaus. But opponents of these bills vow they’ll be back, and if the contentious tone of the debate this year was any indication, the fight over women’s issues in 2013 will be hard fought.

Janet Folger Porter, president of the conservative action group Faith2Action, said she’ll work to collect 17 Republican signatures on a discharge petition, which can be used to force the so-called “heartbeat bill” out of a committee and onto the floor.

“Unless pro-lifers want to hold signs and march for 40 more years, they should pick up the phone and call every Republican senator and demand a floor vote for the Heartbeat Bill before their inaction kills it,” Porter said in a statement. “These Republicans have the power to bring the Heartbeat Bill to a vote before it dies.”

The bill proposed banning most abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Its backers hoped such a restriction would spark a legal challenge that could lead to overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion up until viability, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.

Porter claimed that Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus broke a promise to the bill’s backers Tuesday with his decision not to schedule a vote on the legislation, effectively killing it – barring special circumstances – for the session.

His spokeswoman, Angela Meleca, said Niehaus made the decision to halt the bill in order to keep the Senate’s lame-duck focus on job creation and economic growth.

“He did not break a promise,” she said.

Niehaus is in his final weeks at the Statehouse due to term limits. He cited lingering constitutional concerns in his decision not to move the bill.

Porter and her supporters are flouting Niehaus’ short-term status, encouraging proponents of the bill to work around him and focus on the new Senate leadership that will take over in January. Those lawmakers who aren’t term-limited could face fallout the next time they run for election.

Porter declined to say Wednesday whether she had the commitment of any senators to sign the discharge petition, nor whether anyone was circulating one on behalf of her group. Yet she called getting the names “very doable.”

She said Niehaus aside, 22 senators ran on a “pro-life promise.” She also noted that she personally circulated the state’s first successful discharge petition in 1994, forcing a vote that led to the nation’s first ban on late-term abortion procedures.

“We’ve got three weeks to find 17 people with the courage to sign and say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to end abortion now,”‘ she said. “That’s what they ran on, that’s what they won on, and now we’re just asking them to make good on their word.”

Niehaus’ decision to stop the bill stung backers led by Porter, who had run one of the most high-profile lobbying efforts in recent state memory to try to get the bill passed. Efforts including heart-shaped balloons, Statehouse flyovers, and teddy bears.

Porter said lawmakers can expect another lobbying push during the lame-duck session, without describing what it might look like. “It won’t be bears,” she said.

She said her group and Ohio Right to Life, the state’s largest and oldest anti-abortion group, have been able to come to a compromise on a new version of the bill presented to some lawmakers this week.

She declined to say what changes were made to the bill to bring the group around.

“Everyone is united in this new heartbeat bill,” she said.

Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said the groups have succeeded in identifying some areas where compromise is possible, but his group does not expect to see them addressed until next session.

“It’s hard to put those points in a 20-second sound bite. These are things we’ve been working on for two years,” he said. “I believe we’ve identified common ground o this, but that’s obviously water under the bridge based on President Niehaus’ decision.”

Even if a Senate vote were forced before the Legislature adjourns in December, it is still unclear whether Republican Gov. John Kasich would sign the bill into law. Kasich says he’s consistently opposed abortion, but has been noncommittal on the measure.

Still, Porter said there’s no sense in holding back until Niehaus leaves: “I’m just going to say that the very definition of insanity is to do thing again and expect different results.”

But the clock is ticking on the bill, and supporters and opponents know it.

The so-called Heartbeat Bill passed the House last June, and if it doesn’t pass the Senate by the end of the year, it’s dead for this session. The bill is backed by a coalition of pro-life activists, but Ohio Right to Life is on record as opposing it on constitutional grounds.

Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus has taken heat from Heartbeat Bill supporters for not moving the measure in his chamber. But Niehaus says he wants a compromise.

“My position has been consistent for the last year that we ask both sides to sit down and talk. I don’t think that has happened at this point, so my position is the same.”

Supporters say they’ve now come up with a deal. Republican Lynn Wachtmann of Napoleon in northwest Ohio sponsored the bill in the House.

“The new language that the folks worked on the last few days does, I think, a better job of separating the informed consent from the rest of the bill, which would protect the entirety of the bill hopefully from a bad court decision,” Watchmann says.

Janet Folger Porter is a former official with Ohio Right to Life and leads the national anti-abortion group Faith 2 Action. She’s led a campaign against Ohio Right to Life for its opposition to the Heartbeat Bill, but she says she feels the organization should be on board with this legislation.

“They want informed consent. And this bill gives them exactly what they want, severed from the other part in a separate code, separate section of the code.

“And it gives them what they said they publicly want. Now if they don’t support this bill, then I certainly can’t explain that, because it is giving them exactly what they say they want.”

But for Ohio Right to Life, this bill brings no real change from the Heartbeat Bill the group officially opposes. President Mike Gonidakis, who’s also a lawyer, says the language on severability is unneeded under Ohio law.

Gonidakis says he hasn’t seen a new version of the bill, and that there’s been no meeting to discuss it, but his organization still has big problems with the measure.

“As the bill is currently drafted, the substitute version, there’s numerous concerns, whether it be an informed consent, powers given to state officials or obviously the ban portion. So, a lot of issues that need to be addressed,” Gonidakis says.

Rep. Wachtmann says he’s met with President Niehaus on this issue – and Niehaus’ office confirms he and Wachtmann have talked about the Heartbeat Bill several times, but that Niehaus is still asking both sides to work out their differences.

Wachtmann says he’s still optimistic the Heartbeat Bill will be passed by year’s end. In the meantime, its backers, led by Janet Folger Porter, continue to hold rallies at the Statehouse and take out full page ads calling out individual Republican Senators who are anti-abortion as “RINOs” – “Republicans In Name Only” – actions that have irritated even some who support their cause.

“We’re not going to go away till the vote is cast and babies are protected,” Folger Porter says.

“I care more about protecting babies than making friends in the Senate.”

And the bill’s strongest opponents – those who support abortion rights – are also still watching it. Kellie Copeland is with NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.

“Regardless of the negotiations, let’s be clear – they’re negotiating how to best outlaw abortion in the state of Ohio. So we will continue to monitor this and activate our supporters across the stateagainst this until this bill is dead in December.”

Not only would the Heartbeat Bill have to start all over in the next session if it doesn’t pass this one, the entire Ohio House and half the Ohio Senate is on the ballot this fall.

And that puts pressure on both supporters and opponents of the Heartbeat Bill, since there could be changes in the makeup of the General Assembly next year.
 

Much of the debate centered on why the legislation should be passed now.

After months of intense lobbying by opponents of abortion, an Ohio Senate committee is finally considering the contentious bill. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is promising to sue if it is passed and it’s widely believed that debate would, at some point in the future, end up before the nation’s highest court.

But Dr. Jack Willke says that’s the very reason why it’s important to pass this bill now. Willke, founder of Ohio and national “ight to life” organizations, has been part of the abortion debate for decades. He says the conditions are ripe now for the Supreme Court to take action to outlaw most abortions.

“We are at a position now where this entire Roe –v- Wade thing is being questioned.”

Paula Westwood, the executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Right to Life organization, says if this bill became law, it would nearly wipe out abortions in Ohio.

“Over 28,000 babies die annually from abortion in this state. House Bill 125 will protect over 90 percent of these children at risk for abortion on demand,” Westwood says.

David Forte, a constitutional lawyer, says the state really doesn’t have anything to lose by passing this legislation now and seeing it through to the nation’s highest court.

“Now if a majority of the court, at that time, exalts abortion over human life then we are in no worse position than we are without the heartbeat bill,” Forte says. “But if, on the other hand, the court has a majority that understands the constitution correctly, then this bill is ready to make history.”

But some abortion opponents think the fight over the long, protracted court battle over this bill could actually do more harm than good. Ohio Right to Life has not endorsed….nor does it formally oppose the Heartbeat Bill.

“I cannot predict the future,” says the grou’s Stephanie Crider. “Currently we have a pro abortion Supreme Court by our counts. If the Heartbeat Bill were to pass in its current form and made it in front of the Supreme Court, neither Justice Scalia or Justice Thomas would write the pro life majority opinion because they would be in the minority.”

Jaime Miracle with NARAL Pro Choice Ohio says consideration of this bill is an insult to women who should be able to make decisions about their own bodies. And she says it’s insulting to taxpayers.

“Today’s testimony is another example of our state legislation wasting three-and-a-half hours of taxpayers money on a ridiculous unconstitutional bill that will never stand instead of fixing our economy and putting Ohioans back to work.”

Bill Graber is a construction worker from Fairborn who’s seen his income decline in recent years. He came to the Statehouse to question whether now is the time for the state to spend money on this legal fight.

“This is a gamble,” Graber says. “They are taking the state of Ohio’s credit card and they are going to the Supreme Court’s casino to see if they can deal a final death blow to Roe v Wade and they’re probably not going to do it.”

Graber says lawmakers should be focusing on one thing right now – the economy.

“They’ve got all kinds of diversions to not actually fix the problem. The problem is the busted economy in this state. That’s going to be painful for these guys to sit down and do that. This is a fun issue for them. This gets them contributions. It gets them news headlines but it doesn’t fix the economy.”

But for the sponsor of this bill, Republican Lynn Wachtman, the price tag is not the most important thing to consider.

“I think saving in the future millions of unborn babies from death is something you can’t put a dollar value on. And I always think it’s a sad day in America when we don’t have respect for unborn babies.”

The Heartbeat Bill, if passed into law, is widely considered to be the most restrictive in the nation. Activists on both sides of the issue say they are being told state senators could vote on the bill before the Christmas holiday.

If passed, the bill would be the toughest anti-abortion law in the nation by outlawing abortions in Ohio after the first medically detectable fetal heartbeat. The group Ohio Right to Life has backed away from it out of fear it could be ruled unconstitutional. That’s leading the Warren County Right to Life branch to leave the organization and join Ohio Prolife Action, which is backing the bill.

The legislation cleared the Ohio House earlier this year but has stalled in the Senate.

Supporters of a plan to allow Ohioans to vote on whether to extend constitutional protection to a fertilized egg in the womb had submitted proposed petition language to Attorney General Mike DeWine. He has to sign off on that summary before anti abortion activists begin the process of collecting petition signatures to put the issue on the statewide ballot. DeWine’s spokeswoman, Lisa Peterson Hackley, says her boss has refused to sign off on that summary because it doesn’t meet the requirement that it is fair and truthful.

“After review, he is unable to make that certification because there are three items listed in the summary that the amendment does not affect,” says Hackley.

In his letter to backers of the plan, DeWine explains the three items affect issues involving contraception and in vitro fertilization. Opponents of the proposed amendment say some forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization would not be allowed if this amendment were passed. It’s now up to backers of the plan to decide what, if anything, they’ll do to change the language in a way that it will be accepted.

So supporters are trying a different strategy.

It’s called Ohio Prolife Action, a 501 C 4 group that will work to outlaw abortion in Ohio. Janet Folger Porter is the head of Faith to Action, one of the groups backing the new political action committee. She says the first order of business is the Heartbeat Bill.

“I don’t think there’s a bill in America with more support than the Heartbeat Bill,” Folger Porter says. “And I don’t believe there is more support in the state of Ohio for any legislation than the Heartbeat Bill. And how encouraging it is to know that there is a new statewide organization that actually stands for babies with beating hearts but brings with it such authority, such influence, such impact.”

Folger Porter says that influence and impact comes from supporters of the Heartbeat Bill, from pro-family groups, to elected leaders, to more than 30 local right-to-life chapters in Ohio.

One name that’s conspicuously missing from that list: Ohio Right to Life.

The statewide organization is not supporting the Heartbeat Bill, but it’s not opposing it either. Director Mike Gonadakis says his group welcomes another group into the fight against abortion. He says this group is not a threat to Ohio Right to Life. And Gonadakis sees this as no different than what’s happened nationally with various groups.

“We have groups like our group, National Right to Life, but we also have great groups like Americans United for Life, Susan B. Anthony, obviously the Catholic Bishops, what have you, and the more the merrier,” Gonadakis says.

Gonadakis says his group is supporting a national bill that would require abortion providers to make the heartbeat of an unborn child visible and audible to its mother as part of her informed consent. As far as Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill is concerned, Gonadakis says his organization has legal questions about it.

“We agree with the intent. We think all babies, from the moment of conception, should be protected and the intent of the heartbeat bill is absolutely supported across state lines. It’s just the tactics as it relates to the legal problems we have that we need to continue to work to make it the best bill possible.”

Reporter: “Do you think the Supreme Court could somehow make it worse for your cause?”

Gonadakis: “Based on every national legal expert we have spoken to and worked with from the beginning, that is a valid concern.”

But backers of the Heartbeat Bill insist their plan is legal.

Kelly Copeland with the National Abortion Rights Action League of Ohio says this new group is more of the same in her mind.

“They all want to take away a woman’s ability to make personal private decisions by outlawing abortions. They can change their names, they can come up with a new one, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are out of touch with Ohio’s value and priorities,” Copeland says.

Copeland says this fight over abortion is not what Ohioans want.

“They are clamoring for jobs. They are saying to politicians they elected last November, ‘You said you would fix the economy. Let’s get busy.’ They are not wanting them to spend all of their time on this war on women that they launched back in January.”

But the new anti abortion political action group says this is the right time to take up this fight. After all, they note, Republicans control all of state government. So this new group promises to turn up the heat on lawmakers to put the Heartbeat Bill up for a vote. The group will first begin airing a television spot in the Dayton area. And if politicians don’t put the bill up for a vote, this group promises to campaign against them when they come up for a vote for re-election.

Ohio Right to Life director Mike Gonidakis says the effort follows Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann introducing similar legislation at the national level.

The push comes as backers of an Ohio bill banning abortions once the fetal heartbeat can be detected moves through the state legislature. It would impose the most stringent abortion limit in the nation. Its backers planned to announce creation of their own statewide anti-abortion organization on Wednesday to rival Ohio Right to Life.

That group has withheld support for the so-called Heartbeat Bill on grounds it’s unconstitutional.

If passed, it would be considered the strictest abortion law in the country by outlawing the procedure after the first medically-detectable heartbeat. Some anti-abortion groups have backed away from the bill, saying that while they support the premise of the law, it could hurt the pro-life cause if declared unconstitutional. That doesn’t bother activist Kaitlyn Neil, who compares the fight to Ohio being the first state to outlaw partial-birth abortions.

“If we the people as a majority fell this way about this issue, we need to mobilize and encourage our state representatives to pass laws about what we want, what we believe,” Neil says.

Neil says she has the support of most Republican state Senators. The “Heartbeat Bill” cleared the state House in the spring, but has not yet been assigned to a Senate committee.

House lawmakers later rejected the changes, clearing the way for reconciliation. The Senate measure sends more money to high-performing schools and outlaws abortions at hospitals that get state funding. The House version includes the so-called “Heartbeat Bill,” which would ban abortion after the first medically-detectable heartbeat. Lawmakers have to pass a final budget by June 30th.