New Motivation for John Kasich to Sign ‘Heartbeat Bill’

Thursday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich—who now has the nation’s most aggressive anti-abortion legislation sitting on his desk—received a phone call from Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver.

During the call, Staver informed Kasich that if he signs the pending “fetal heartbeat bill” into law, his organization will defend the new law, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, at no cost to the taxpayers of the state. It’s unclear how Kasich responded to the offer, but the author of the legislation is praying the governor accepts it.

In a statement to the media Friday morning, Faith2Action President Janet Porter said the fate of “nearly 20,000 babies with beating hearts” is now in Kasich’s hands. She urged those who are passionate about seeing the bill signed into law to call the Governor’s Office at (614) 466-3555 immediately.

“Ask Governor Kasich to sign the Heartbeat Bill (within H.B. 493) and let the courts be the ones to decide the issue of constitutionality—that’s why we have courts,” she said. “Why would the governor want to kill the Heartbeat Bill because the courts might? That makes no sense …

“It’s very interesting what the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals had to say about the Arkansas and North Dakota Heartbeat Laws. The Eighth Circuit asked the Supreme Court to review the issue because they determined ‘heartbeat’ to be a ‘more certain and consistent’ marker than viability, the standard the Supreme Court now uses.

“By the time our Heartbeat Law reaches the Supreme Court, we will have a brand new Trump-appointed Court. Now is the time!” {eoa}