John Kasich Signs New Ohio Abortion Restrictions Into Law

Ohio Governor, John Kasich, signed House Bill 59 on Sunday night which includes some stringent abortion restrictions.

These new restrictions come as a part of the new $62 billion budget, which includes a $2.7 billion tax cut and $1.5 billion for education.

These new abortion restrictions come just days after the Texas abortion Bill, SB5, failed to pass and after the controversial bill was reportedly going to have a second special session, which was ordered by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Kasich has the power to veto by line-item, which he did take advantage of, vetoing 22 line-item measures.

According to wlwt.com, Kasich did not veto a controversial abortion provision that would force women to undergo an ultrasound before having the procedure.

The new rule also states that patients now have to find a private hospital if they need more care after a procedure because the restriction blocks abortion clinics from transferring patients to public hospitals.

Huffington Post reported another measure of the budget puts Planned Parenthood last on the list of family-planning dollars.

The Maddow Blog via msnbc had posted the following regarding the policies involved in the new Ohio abortion restrictions:

Rape crisis centers will operate under a state-imposed gag order — rape-crisis counselors will face new restrictions when telling impregnated rape victims that they can legally terminate their pregnancy.

The budget effectively defunds Planned Parenthood clinics in the state.

There’s a provision to require women seeking legal abortions to undergo a state-mandated, medically-unnecessary ultrasound — even if women don’t want one, and if their doctor doesn’t recommend one. Ohio Republicans proudly declared they want to put themselves between patients and their physicians, prescribing specific procedures for no medical reason.

Women will also be required to pay for state-mandated, medically-unnecessary ultrasounds they do not want and their doctors do not think they need.

Physicians will be legally required to deliver a Republican-written speech to women seeking legal abortions. Whether the doctor believes what’s in the script, or even wants to say those words to his or her patient, has been deemed irrelevant.

Clinics that provide abortion services will be required to have transfer agreements with local hospitals, and then bans public hospitals from establishing those agreements, all in the hopes of shutting the clinics down.

And Republican policymakers in the state decided to redefine the words “pregnancy” and “fetus” in state law — the budget decides that a woman is pregnant even before a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterine lining. The effect of this policy may prevent a woman from using an IUD in the state of Ohio.

According to wlwt.com, the state will have some of the most restrictive abortions laws in the country.

The new budget also includes provisions to invest in Ohio’s highway system, creates a new funding model for Ohio’s colleges and universities and reforms the state’s Medicaid system to reduce fraud and increase care quality, according to a released statement.

Kasich had the option to veto these new Ohio abortion restrictions, and he didn’t. What kinds of support or backlash do you see in Kasich’s future?

[Image via Shutterstock/wrangler]