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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 13th 2016( Cleveland Ohio)
Contact Molly Smith, 440-668-4049
Governor Kasich's veto of the Heartbeat bill this afternoon less than 24 hours after it reached his desk has caused Ohioans to call into question his prolife credentials. "The Governor had a chance to end abortion in Ohio and instead killed the opportunity by vetoing this bill. This calls into question just how committed he is to ending the slaughter of innocent human life in the womb" said Molly Smith, President of Cleveland Right to Life.
Additionally Smith noted that Ohio Right to Life, has consistently worked
against the Heartbeat Bill, and even called on the Governor this morning to veto it. "ORTL's rationale for this call makes absolutely no sense." said Smith. She points out that some of the most recognized Constitutional lawyers in the nation such as Matt Staver of Liberty Council and David Forte, Professor of Law at Cleveland State University who is currently lecturing at Princeton University, consider this legislation to be sound and eminently able to withstand any court challenge. Such a challenge was always expected and welcomed by pro-lifers in Ohio.
Cleveland Right to Life noted that this bill passed both the house and the senate by a comfortable majority and this fact is another indication that the Governor and Ohio Right to Life are wrong to oppose it. Ohio legislators were well versed in the language of the bill and they approved it. That Kasich would veto this bill with the blessing of ORTL can only be interpreted as, at best misguided and at worst total disdain for the intelligence of the legislators.
"Most major urban Right to Life groups have been forging a different path from ORTL for several years because of lack of meaningful representation within the state organization especially at the legislative level" said Smith "In fact the current situation is a good example of how far the state group has drifted from those of us in the trenches. We are truly saddened by this lost opportunity but will not give up the fight to protect all human life. While we are pleased to see SB 127 receive the Governor's signature and while we welcome the opportunity to save even one human life, we have just missed a huge opportunity to save ALL children in the womb."
Smith noted that SB 127 will save a few hundred lives if enforced, while HB 493 would have shut down the abortion industry in Ohio, thus saving over 20 thousand lives per year. She pointed out that the largest urban and county Right to Life groups in Ohio supported the passage of HB 493 (the Heartbeat Bill) because it was a bill that would have finally ended abortion in Ohio and possibly in the nation. Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati, Dayton, Lake County Right to Life and Ohio Prolife Action and many others as well as such groups as Citizens for Community Values, North East Ohio Value Voters, We The People Convention President, Tom Zowistowski, Geauga County Right to Life, Created Equal, and several others representing hundreds of thousands of prolife citizens supported HB 493.
"These are the groups that truly represent the prolife voice in Ohio and will continue to do so" concluded Smith.
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