Is A Fetus A Person? Ohio Gov Signs Abortion Bill Banning Operation After 20 Weeks

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed a bill into law Tuesday that effectively bans abortions for women who have been pregnant for at least 20 weeks, according to a new report. The Republican also vetoed the so-called "Heartbeat Bill," which outlaws abortions if a heartbeat can be heard, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

“I agree with Ohio Right to Life and other leading, pro-life advocates that SB 127 is the best, most legally sound and sustainable approach to protecting the sanctity of human life," Kasich said in a brief statement following his executive actions.

Anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life expressed its gratitude to Kasich for supporting "the unborn and our pro-life mission," it said in part of a statement. "The 20-week ban was nationally designed to be the vehicle to end abortion in America. It challenges the current national abortion standard and properly moves the legal needle from viability to the baby’s ability to feel pain."

Kasich's actions likely reinvigorated the argument over when life begins and whether a fetus is an actual person. Those who are anti-abortion, such as the Catholic Church, have argued that an embryo, which technically becomes a fetus after the eighth week of pregnancy, should be treated as a person. However, pro-abortion groups have long held that the choice for having the procedure is a woman's to make and that the government should not interfere in what it calls is a subjective matter — meaning it's up to the pregnant woman to decide whether her fetus is a person.

The news out of Ohio came one week after its Senate approved the "heartbeat bill" that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Kasich, who had previously spoken out against the bill, told CNN earlier this year when he was running for president that he was "pro-life with the exceptions of rape, incest and the life of the mother."

Abortion was legalized in in 1973 with the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Many states have restricted abortion in the last trimester of pregnancy, except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.