By Hilary White
COLUMBUS, July 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rep. Tom Brinkman (R), noted throughout his political career for his strong pro-life stand, has re-introduced a bill in the Ohio legislature that proposes to ban abortion in the state except to save the life of the mother.
A spokesman for Ohio House Speaker Jon A. Husted told the Columbus Dispatch that he will poll fellow GOP legislators to determine their interest. The spokesman said, “It will probably get a hearing”; a step forward from Brinkman’s previous attempt in 2005 when Husted said that an abortion bill was “not among the priorities” of Republicans.
Brinkman told media that he hoped his comprehensive abortion ban would aid efforts to overturn the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973.
Although Ohio Governor Ted Strickland supported the partial-birth abortion ban in Congress, his spokesman said he would veto a total ban.
Brinkman has revived his 2005 bill at the request of pro-life groups such as the Center for Bioethical Reform Midwest. Mark Harrington of CBR Midwest told LifeSiteNews.com that while this bill may not stand much of a chance to become law, it was crucial to continue to bring bans forward for consideration. “You keep doing it regardless of the political climate,” he said. “No one can predict the future so we keep trying.”
“It’s always the proper time to do right. You continue to bring them out until it’s finally done. Persist on the goal, which is to ban abortion. That has always been the goal of the pro-life movement: ban abortion,” Harrington said.
His comments come in response to the lack of support from Ohio Right to Life, an affiliate of National Right to Life, whose spokesman, Denise Mackura, told the Columbus Dispatch, “With the governor that we have, I don’t think there is any possibility of getting a ban passed”.
“While we do have a majority of pro-life legislators in the House and Senate, I don’t know that we have a veto-proof majority.”
But Harrington countered this nay-saying: “She’s absolutely right, it may not go far. But we might go further this time. It might get two hearings. It might go to a vote. No one can predict.”
“Our state motto is with God all things are possible,” he added.
Harrington objects to Right to Life’s stand on practical grounds as well. He is concerned that claiming that such attempts are futile gives legislators the excuse they need to claim to be pro-life while doing nothing about it.
Such an attitude, he said, “basically gives cover enabling legislators not to move or vote on this bill. I’d say it’s worth doing just so we know who will get behind it. Let’s find out who is and is not pro-life.”