The ad doesn’t say exactly what that means. But, depending on which law a viewer has in mind, the ad, at best, leaves an incomplete impression and at worst gives an inaccurate one.
Here’s what the ad says, what Ohio law says, and what the group that funded the ad, Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, says is the basis for the ad’s claim.
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The 15-second ad, which launched this week, features “Phil S.” from Bexley, a Columbus suburb. Phil says he was raised in the church to oppose abortion, but views the issue differently now that he is a father of three.
“The laws that have been enacted here in Ohio have been extreme, far more extreme than what I’m comfortable with. It makes me angry they don’t have exceptions for things like rape or for the health of the mother,” Phil says, as an image on the screen describes the lack of health exemption in Ohio’s “abortion ban.”
“This is insane. That’s why I’m voting yes on [State Issue 1], to stop government from passing these extreme abortion bans.”
In an interview, Gabe Mann, a spokesperson for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, said the ad references the “heartbeat” law, signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in January 2019, shortly after he took office.
That law makes it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. The law didn’t take effect though until June 24, 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It’s been on hold again though for more than a year due to a pending state court challenge. That means abortion in Ohio currently is legal through 22 weeks, a standard set under a different law signed by then-Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, in December 2016.
The heartbeat law contains no exemptions for rape or incest. But it does have a health exception. That exception says a physician doesn’t have to try to detect a heartbeat if a “medical emergency” prevents them from doing so and necessitates an abortion. The physician also can perform an abortion to “prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to avoid a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function,” state law says.
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