Update: (COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that he has signed Senate Bill 23, the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act, as passed by the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives. The bill will become effective 90 days after filing by the Secretary of State.

UPDATE: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will sign Senate Bill 23, the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act, today April 11, at a ceremony with legislative leaders at the Ohio Statehouse at 3:30 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, the Ohio House passed the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act (SB 23). The Ohio Senate passed the legislation on March 13, and it received over 12 hours of combined testimony, spread over five committee meetings. Governor Mike DeWine has said that he will sign the Heartbeat Bill should it reach his desk. Ohio joins six other states who have passed similar legislation.

“Ohio Right to Life commends our countless pro-life leaders in the Ohio House and Senate who have made the heartbeat bill a priority,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. “The Heartbeat Bill is the next incremental step in our strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade. While other states embrace radical legislation to legalize abortion on demand through the ninth month of pregnancy, Ohio has drawn a line and continues to advance protections for unborn babies. We look forward to standing beside our friend and pro-life Governor, Mike DeWine when he signs the heartbeat bill. This is the right time for Ohio to courageously take an aggressive stand for our little unborn Ohioans with beating hearts.

This legislation would prohibit abortion when a human heartbeat can be detected. An abdominal ultrasound can detect a heartbeat between eight and twelve weeks. Any physician who performs an abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected would have to demonstrate they did so to save the life of the mother. A recent Marist Poll found that 80% of Americans want to limit abortions no later than three months of pregnancy (12 weeks).

“With the composition of the Supreme Court being as favorable as it is today, we see good things on the horizon as it regards the Heartbeat Bill” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, vice president and executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “That being said, we can’t rest on our laurels now that we’ve achieved this incredible milestone. We won’t stop advocating for legislation at the Statehouse that increases protections for women and their unborn babies. There is much yet to be done in our state to promote a culture of life, and Ohio Right to Life plans to be on the forefront of that effort.”

Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 45 chapters and local affiliates, is Ohio’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement in Ohio, ORTL works through legislation and education to promote and defend innocent human life from conception to natural death.