Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Ohio Senate increases requirements for minors seeking an abortion without parental consent
by Joe Guillen  
October  2, 2011 

The Ohio Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would make abortions more difficult for minors to obtain without their parents’ permission. 

The bill requires a court to ask whether the minor understands the physical and emotional consequences of an abortion and whether the minor has been coached on how to answer the court’s questions when seeking a judicial bypass for parental approval. 

The Ohio House already approved the bill but will have to agree with a new provision the Senate added before the bill is sent to Republican Gov. John Kasich’s desk for his signature. 

The Senate’s version of the bill requires a minor to get approval in the county she lives in or in a surrounding county. Republicans said the change will prevent minors from “shopping” for a friendly court. 

A spokesman for House Republicans said the majority caucus is expected to agree with the change. 

Federal court rulings have allowed minors seeking an abortion to bypass parental consent requirements with a juvenile judge’s approval. 

Republicans who supported the bill said some judges in Ohio are too lenient in granting the requests. The bill, House Bill 63, requires minors to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” that abortions are in their best interests. 

“A bypass should not merely be a rubber stamp of the abortion industry,” Sen. Keith Faber, a Republican from Celina, said on the Senate floor. 

Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said the changes are unnecessary and part of an overall agenda the GOP majority has pursued to limit women’s reproductive rights. 

“It’s designed to make the process more intimidating, more difficult,” Copeland said. “This is just legislation for politics. It’s not improving women’s health whatsoever.” 

In July, Kasich signed into law a late-term abortion ban prohibiting the process when a pregnancy is 20 weeks along unless a doctor determines a fetus cannot live outside the womb - a condition known as viability. 

The House of Representatives has approved a controversial “heartbeat bill” which would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Senate has not yet voted on the measure. The House also has passed a bill that would restrict insurance coverage for abortions. 

Sen. Jason Wilson, of Columbiana, was the only Democrat to join Republicans in support of the judicial-bypass bill. 

Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer