July 27, 2017

Pro-Life Legislative Update-July 2017
Barry Sheets, Legislative Agent
RIGHT TO LIFE ACTION COALITION OF OHIO
 
Federal
There has been no movement to this point on health care reform, or on any pro-life provisions of note.  The Congress will be heading to a recess in August, so September looks to be the earliest we can expect any movement on any key legislation.
 
State--UPDATES
AMENDED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 49 (Ryan Smith): 
The Committee of Conference between the House and the Senate finished their work on the 2 year, $132 billion dollar spending measure.  They agreed to re-authorize the Parenting and Pregnancy Support Act for crisis pregnancy centers at it's existing funding level:  $500,000 per fiscal year.    The bill has been signed by the Governor, and this was not one of the 47 provisions he used his line item veto upon.  A number of those vetoes are being challenged by the Legislature, with the House voting to overturn 11 vetoes.  The Senate, as of this writing, have yet to reconvene to take up the override votes and finish the process.
 
SENATE BILL 28: The fetal remains bill is still languishing in the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee.   Discussions with the Chairman of the committee (Senator Bill Coley) are ongoing.   We have been meeting with the sponsor, Senator Joe Uecker, and hope to negotiate an interested party meeting over the summer.
 
HOUSE BILL 149:  The Abortion Trafficking Prevention Act, was not acted upon by the House Health Committee prior to their break for summer recess.  RTLACO is working with the sponsors of the bill to try to get the bill moving again when the legislature reconvenes in the fall.
 
SENATE BILL 145:  The dismemberment abortion ban bill, sponsored by Senators Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and Steve Wilson (R-Lebanon), was moved from committee and passed the Senate during the last day of session before summer recess.  The bill was voted on a party-line vote.
 
The issue of concern, however, that we raised in earlier briefings has still not been addressed. Additional concerns have arisen that the bill only bans the D&E procedure if the child is yet living: there is nothing to prohibit the abortionist from killing the child with digoxin, umbilical transection, etc. and then performing a D&E.  This leaves it entirely unclear that the bill will protect a single unborn child in the womb, much less the nearly 3,000 upon whom D&E dismemberments are performed every year in Ohio.
 
RTLACO will be working with members of the House to try to bring more solid protections for these precious unborn children as this bill moves forward.
 
House Bill 214/Senate Bill 164:  The Down's Syndrome ban bill will be waiting until fall to have hearings in the House.  An identical Senate companion bill, SB 164, was introduced by Senator Frank LaRose and has been given sponsor testimony in the Senate Health, Human Services & Medicaid Committee.
 
RTLACO has prepared a comparison document between this session's version of the bill and the version that was previously introduced.  The measure has been significantly improved and strengthened due in part to concerns raised by the Coalition.
 
House Bill 234:  This bill would create a first degree misdemeanor (fourth degree felony for multiple violations) for "impeding access" to an abortion facility.  This bill has been introduced for the last three sessions without success.  No hearings are scheduled to this point on the bill.
 
Nothing is moving on this bill at the Statehouse, but a Council-driven effort is underway in Toledo to implement similar ordinances locally.  As Ohio is a home-rule state, that can be attempted without a state statute in place by a municipality.
 
House Bill 248:  This bill authored by liberal progressives requires "(mandated insurance) coverage for prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, the provision of certain hospital and pregnancy prevention services for victims of sexual assault (emergency contraception, even at religious-centric hospitals), the dispensing of hormonal contraceptives to adults without a prescription, and comprehensive sexual health and sexually transmitted infection education in schools" which would also include the repeal of the state's Abstinence Until Marriage education law.
 
The House Health Committee chose not to bring this bill up for hearings before the summer recess.
 
House Bill 258:  the Heartbeat Bill:  The measure was re-introduced with 50 co-sponsors (the necessary votes to pass the bill, but not to override another veto by the Governor, which is likely) in early June.   Alarmingly, the bill was not assigned to a committee for hearings prior to the Assembly going on summer recess.  Although every other bill introduced in this time period was referred for committee action by House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, he inexplicably chose to prevent Heartbeat from being assigned to committee.  We will be investigating, and hope to encourage the Speaker to move forward on this measure quickly as they reconvene in the fall.