COLUMBUS, Ohio — A state House committee on Wednesday narrowly approved a bill that would impose the strictest abortion limit in the nation, outlawing the procedure at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.
The Health Committee voted 12-11 to approve the so- called Heartbeat Bill. The bill would need to be approved by the House, where its future is uncertain.
Supporters led by Janet Fol ger Porter, the director of the Faith2Action network of pro- family groups and a former legislative director of the anti- abortion group Ohio Right to Life, have hoped aloud that the bill sparks a legal challenge to the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.
The Roe vs. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a woman’s right to an abortion.
Fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks.
The Associated Press
