So Kasich seems to drawn the ire of both sides of the abortion debate by vetoing the heartbeat bill (roughly 6 weeks) and signing a 20 week bill. I hesitate to call this a compromise, since he only rejected the heartbeat bill on the grounds that it has been challenged as unconstitutional in other states, but I’m a little surprised at how both sides feel like they lost. playing the moderate doesn’t seem to have won him any friends. Is this because abortion is is such an all or nothing issue?
I know this board is pretty pro-choice, but if you were pro-life John Kasich would you have gone for the ball to the wall option or tried a middle ground?
Kasich is merely playing the “how many weeks” game. Texas tried it, and lost, but SCOTUS hasn’t put a firm number on it, so we are destined to have the limits probed repeatedly. He probably figured the 6 week number was more likely to be struck down, regardless of the reason he gave.
That would seem insightful if that was not actually the reason he gave mentioned in the OP and the linked article. Frankly, it’s kind of refreshing to see a governor to veto an unconstitutional bill rather than let it go to court for political posturing.
It’s all or nothing to the squeakiest wheels. The majority of Americans are less absolutist in polling:
Planned Parenthood, while not happy about the notion of 20 week bans, does point out that nearly 99% of abortions occur by the 21st week. That can help chip off support to the bills opponents among the “legal in most cases” folks.
Ohio is also the 16th stateto enact a 20 week ban. It’s not new ground or just them as the sole point of attack for a court challenge to the idea.
For the most part, I’m pro-life and I probably would have done the same as Kasich. I also live in Ohio, so I get that he did what he thought was best. Even if a heartbeat law had stood up to legal scrutiny (a long shot) it would have been an expensive battle.
If I’m forced to identify with one of the six standard positions on abortion, I’d describe myself as pro-life, but using a heartbeat as the relevant cutoff is idiotic. What we should be concerned with is not life, but personhood, and if we use a heartbeat as the criterion for personhood, we’d conclude that Dick Cheney isn’t a person. Personhood is about our minds, and our minds are a function of our nervous systems, so any sane criterion for an abortion cutoff should be based on neural development.
It’s also refreshing, in general, to see a Republican choosing not to engage in quixotic extremism. Knowing what fights to pick is a valuable asset to a politician. I’ve said before that I think that Kasich really does want what’s best for his constituents; he and I just disagree on what that is. Mind you, I’ve still voted against him every chance I’ve had, but he’s the kind of Republican that I’d prefer to vote against, someone I can live with if he wins.
I think a 20-week line for foetal rights, if and only if it has medical exemptions, is a reasonable enough standard, even if it’s not my personal preference. The heartbeat bill is attempt to ban foeticide completely, and politically doomed. This isn’t Ireland.
I think Kasich made a reasonable choice, given he is “pro-life.”