COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Friday signed legislation outlawing the procedure used for almost all second-trimester abortions.
However, the Republican governor vetoed an even more restrictive anti-abortion “heartbeat" bill, as well as legislation to give pay raises to legislators and other elected officials, according to a news release.
Kasich signed Senate Bill 145, which bans the dilation and evacuation (or “D&E”) procedure. Nationally, 95 percent of second trimester abortions are performed using D&E, and the procedure is also used after some miscarriages. About 3,000 of the nearly 21,000 abortions performed in Ohio in 2015 used the method, according to state health department records.
Under the bill, physicians could be charged with a fourth-degree felony for performing a D&E, called a "dismemberment abortion" in the bill, and spend up to 18 months in prison. The bill makes an exception only in cases where the would-be mother’s life is in jeopardy or there’s a serious risk of permanent physical impairment.
The bill takes effect in 90 days. Currently, Ohio prohibits abortions later than 20 weeks into a pregnancy.
Kasich’s decision won praise from Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, which advocated for the bill.
“Ohioans can sleep easier tonight, knowing that the horrendous practice of dismemberment abortions is behind us” Gonidakis said in a statement. “Ohio Right to Life is immensely grateful to our governor and our pro-life legislature for prioritizing this crucial legislation.”
In a statement, Gonidakis noted that Ohio is the 10th state to pass such a measure.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland, in a statement, called Kasich “reckless and irresponsible” for signing the D&E bill, which she stated blocks “a very safe and common method used in second trimester abortions.”
Copeland added that Kasich previously said he would support abortion bills only if they contain exceptions for rape and incest – exceptions that are not part of the D&E bill.
“John Kasich’s word means nothing,” Copeland stated. “It is clear this is just a political talking point for Kasich and in no way a sincerely held moral conviction."
But Kasich vetoed a different bill, House Bill 258, that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. It’s the second time in two years that Kasich has vetoed such a measure.
In his veto message of HB258, Kasich noted his support of past abortion restrictions but asserted that the heartbeat bill would likely be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.
"As the losing party, the state of Ohio will be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to cover the legal fees for the pro-choice activists' lawyers,” Kasich stated.
While the heartbeat bill initially passed the Ohio House with the 60 votes needed to override the governor’s veto, it only passed the state Senate 18-13 – two votes short of the three-fifths majority needed for a veto override.
Kasich also vetoed Senate Bill 296, which would raise legislators’ salaries incrementally in the next decade from $60,584 now to $73,167 by 2028. Other state and local elected officials, from the governor down to county coroners, would also receive pay boosts of varying amounts.
In his veto message, Kasich indicated that he disapproved of lawmakers hastily tacking the pay-raise language onto a bill introduced to increase benefits for the widows and children of fallen first responders.
“If there are those who believe that it is necessary to increase the compensation of our state and elected officials, then a stand-alone pay raise bill should be introduced and debated in an open and deliberative process that allows more of an opportunity for the taxpayers to have their say about their elected representatives’ compensation,” the governor wrote.
The bill passed both the Ohio House and Senate by wider margins than the three-fifths majority needed to override Kasich’s veto. But it’s unclear whether lawmakers will vote to override Kasich’s veto before the legislative session concludes at the end of the year.
The governor also signed 11 other bills, including:
- The Reagan Tokes Act (Senate Bill 201), which largely does away with the state’s “truth-in-sentencing laws that dictate the number of years a person is locked up, and replaces them with a range of years for a sentence;
- House Bill 497, which seeks to crack down on "revenge porn" by banning the spread of nude or sexual images of a person without his or her consent;
- House Bill 96, which would increase jail time for people repeatedly convicted of groping others;
- House Bill 411, which allows payouts to Ohioans who are wrongfully imprisoned because of withheld evidence; and
- House Bill 522, which allows temporary liquor permits for events such as outdoor festivals. Right now, such permits can only be issued on a permanent basis.