Ohio’s “heartbeat bill,” which would have prohibited killing unborn children with a detectable heartbeat, went down in flames on Thursday after the Senate failed by one vote to override Gov. Kasich’s heartless veto of the bill.
The bill passed both chambers earlier this month — the House by a comfortable majority and the Senate 18-13 — but Kasich followed through on his promise to veto the bill. In Ohio, a three-fifths majority is required to override a veto, which meant that two additional votes were needed in the Senate.
The Ohio House voted earlier today to override Kasich’s veto 61-28, but the measure came up one vote short in the Senate, which voted 19-13 against the override. Sen. Frank LaRose, who was absent for the vote on the bill earlier this month, voted to override, but GOP Sen. Bill Beagle, who voted for the heartbeat bill, inexplicably defected, crossing the aisle to side with Democrats, Kasich, and Planned Parenthood, all of whom had campaigned vigorously against protecting the lives of unborn children. Beagle was joined by four Republicans — John Eklund, Matt Dolan, Stephanie Kunze, and Gayle Manning — to block the override attempt. – READ MORE