As reported by radio.wosu, Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine said, “The essential function of government is to protect the most vulnerable among us, those who don’t have a voice… government’s role should be to protect life from the beginning to the end.”

The heartbeat law does something I believe our government needs to do more of— protect those who are unable to protect themselves.

As mentioned above, with this law women have roughly until the six-week mark to determine if they are pregnant and decide if they would like to have an abortion.

This law, rather than the heartbeat bill, allows the use of tools to help women find out if they are pregnant even sooner. “…the Ohio House version allows for the use of transvaginal ultrasounds to detect a fetal heartbeat even earlier in a pregnancy,” according to NPR.

To be transparent, I want to address that my opinion is pro-life. But, that does not mean I do not have respect for women who have considered or had abortions. I may not agree with abortion, but that does not mean I have hatred or lost respect for people who have made that decision.

That being said, I do believe that either way, a beating heart is a beating heart. Thinking of all the unborn children, I would assume every one of them would choose life, not death.

I understand that not every situation that results in pregnancy is consensual, and I am in no way condemning rape, incest or anything of the sort.

Despite the circumstances, every single time it is true that if the pregnancy continues and progresses in a healthy way, a human being will develop— nothing else.

Further, less than one percent of abortions nationally are performed due to rape.

The top two reasons for not having a baby? 25% of women claim that they are not ready for a child, and 23% say that they cannot afford a baby.

In my opinion, these reasons do not outweigh the value of one’s life. Whether the baby is fully developed or not, it has the potential to be, and that potential child deserves the chance at life.

Looking at the top two reasons behind abortions, both seem pretty preventable— if you are not ready to have a baby, you might not be ready to have sex.

This law can seem strict, but the fact that life is created and ended in itself is serious. Today, we live in a “hookup” culture, which changes how our society views sex.

No matter your take on it, sex can result in pregnancy. This law takes the stance that life is more important than any circumstance or situation, which I stand behind.

At the end of the day, life is life. A beating heart is an indicator of life, and this law strives to protect all of the babies behind the little heartbeats that cannot ask for themselves to get the opportunity to live.

The heartbeat law is protecting the lives of the innocent children who do not yet have the voices to speak for themselves, which I support.

Sources: 

• https://radio.wosu.org/post/dewine-signs-heartbeat-bill-banning-most-abortions-ohio#stream/0
• https://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
• https://www.npr.org/2019/04/11/712455980/a-bill-banning-most-abortions-becomes-law-in-ohio