Kasich Vetoes One Abortion Bill And Signs Another – Is He Really Pro-Life? (VIDEO)

Republican Governor John Kasich vetoed the Ohio abortion bill that would outlaw the procedure after about six weeks. HB 493, known as the “heartbeat bill,” would have made it a crime for women to have abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Since many women don’t even realize they’re pregnant until about six weeks gestation, the measure would have made it virtually impossible for women to have safe and legal abortions within the time frame specified.

Strict Measures

The heartbeat bill passed the Ohio House and Senate on December 7, and pro-choice advocates quickly reacted to the measure. They called on the public to reach out to Kasich and voice their dissent.

 

After the heartbeat bill passed, Ohio had the strictest time-based abortion law in the U.S. Two other states, Arkansas and North Dakota, successfully passed similar measures, but they were struck down by the United States Supreme Court and declared unconstitutional.

In a statement about his veto, Kasich stated:

Similar legislation enacted in two other states has twice been declared unconstitutional by federal judges, and the Supreme Court declined to review those decisions. Because the federal courts are bound to follow the Supreme Court’s rulings on abortion, the amendment to AM. Sub. HB 493 will be struck down. The State of Ohio will be the losing party in that lawsuit, and 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. Furthermore, such a defeat invites additional challenges to Ohio’s strong legal protections for unborn life. Therefore, this veto is in the public interest.

Although Kasich vetoed the heartbeat bill, he went on to sign the bill banning abortions after 20 weeks, giving Ohio some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country.

Pro-life or Pro-embryo?

John Kasich likes to call himself pro-life, but his track record doesn’t show much regard for human life at all.

Since 2007, Ohio had qualified for a waiver of time limits for food stamp recipients who were out of work. Put simply, the economy in Ohio was so bad and the unemployment rate was so high that the work requirement for food stamp participation was waived.

However, in 2014, Governor Kasich chose not to accept the waiver for the entire state.

He approved the waiver for 16 of the state’s 88 counties in 2014, and 17 counties in 2015. The counties where the waivers were approved were mostly rural, with predominately Caucasian populations. Urban areas and those with a higher population of people of color were left out.

The number of people on food stamps went from being 65 percent white to 94 percent white, and food banks saw a greater demand in the wake of the changes, according to Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Food Banks. She said:

“Nearly 140,000 people have been removed from the food stamp program since October 2013 … We believe that the majority of them were removed for inability to meet the work requirement. And they are turning to our agencies to get food. More people are going to soup kitchens and homeless shelters, begging, panhandling, and dumpster diving. It’s not a good scene.”



Kasich also cut funding to Planned Parenthood. Perhaps he didn’t realize that abortions make up only three percent of the services performed by Planned Parenthood, and the organization is prohibited from using federal funds to pay for abortion services.

The other 97 percent of the services offered by planned parenthood include cancer screenings and prevention, contraception, general gynecological care, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Planned Parenthood routinely questions clients about domestic violence and safety at home.

Taking food and healthcare away from the people in your state doesn’t sound very pro-life. In fact, it’s just about the exact opposite of that.

Watch this clip for more information about the Heartbeat Bill:

Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.

April Fox is a freelance writer from North Carolina. In 2009, she appeared on an Irish radio show to discuss an article she penned on the benefits of punk rock on child development. She writes a little bit about everything, but her interests lean primarily toward music, politics, and parenting and child development. Her books, Object Permanence, Spine, and Chicken Soup for the Fuck You, are available on Amazon and in stores around her hometown of Asheville, NC.