Christina Hagan

Inside the conservative organization undermining abortion access one state at a time

By Ray Levy-Uyeda
Dec 26, 2019

This year, a record number of six-week abortion bans, dubbed “heartbeat bills," were introduced at the state level. The goal of these restrictive measures was ostensibly to “protect the lives of the unborn” — as well as to issue a sneaky challenge to existing law set by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which says abortion is legal in all 50 states. The bans rely on the bogus claim that a vaginal ultrasound can detect a fetal “heartbeat” six weeks into pregnancy, giving pro-life advocates a foundational claim to fetal personhood.

In reality, these “heartbeats” are not any real sign of sentient life. But the movement is successfully restricting access to abortion in large part because of the activism of one woman: Ohioan Janet Folger Porter, who uses her organization, Faith2Action, to lobby for and proliferate such legislation.

Continued: https://www.mic.com/p/inside-the-conservative-organization-undermining-abortion-access-one-state-at-a-time-19407288

By SABRINA TAVERNISE and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
DEC. 11, 2016, NYT

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Christina Hagan, the youngest woman in the Ohio Legislature, received a surprise last week. The toughest piece of abortion legislation in the country — a bill she had championed for years — suddenly passed.

The measure, which would ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks, was long presumed dead. But now that Donald J. Trump is headed to the White House, the political winds have changed, and it passed with overwhelming majorities.

So did a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks. Neither contains exceptions for rape and incest. Now Gov. John Kasich — a Republican who is an ardent abortion opponent and onetime challenger to Mr. Trump — is weighing whether to sign one or both.

“President-elect Trump has drastically shifted the dynamics,” said Ms. Hagan, 28, a Republican who has served in the State House since 2011. “I honestly could not have foreseen this victory a week or a month ago.”

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Source: New York Times

USA – Inside the conservative organization undermining abortion access one state at a time

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