A Republican lawmaker in Ohio has presented legislation that, if approved, would require public school educators to teach students about pregnancy, fetal development, and abortion.
State Rep. Niraj Antani first introduced H.B. 90 — the “Humanity of the Unborn Child” bill — some weeks ago and has characterized it as an effort to “promote a culture of life” in Ohio, according to the Toledo Blade.
The law would require the state to create an instructional program to help achieve an “abortion-free society.” Furthermore, it mandates the Ohio Department of Health and the state’s Board of Education design materials — without the assistance of any organizations that provide abotion — to educate students on unborn infants’ human characteristics at various stages of gestation.
Most controversially, the bill would require Ohio to create educational materials that “clearly and consistently state[s] that abortion kills a living human being.” That language would then be distributed to the general population through various forms of media, including print and broadcast mediums.
The pending legislation, in addition, prohibit public schools employees from referring a pregnant student to a medical facility from which she could receive an abortion.
Opponents of the bill, like state Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D), see the proposal as an attempt by conservative politicians to push their ideologies onto other people.
“This other house bill is legislators infusing their own opinions and overstepping the local control,” she said, according to the Blade.
That is not at all how those in the pro-life community see Antani’s legislative proposition.
“We in Ohio are constantly searching for ways to reduce infant mortality and create better birth outcomes,” said Jessica Warner, director of legislative affairs for Ohio Right to Life. “This can … ensure that young women who may find themselves pregnant are quickly connected to the prenatal care that is so needed.”
Warner made the comments during a recent House Health Committee hearing. She went on to say that, when people see “the scientific reality of life in the womb,” they are then “able to understand the brutality and inhumanity of abortion.”
The proposal is currently under consideration by the state’s House Health Committee.