Women should not be told when their preborn babies have a heartbeat, according to abortion activists in Ohio. The abortion industry wants to see a state law that requires doctors to tell women about a baby’s heartbeat struck down, following the passage of a constitutional amendment that strips away protections for preborn life.

The amendment, passed in 2023, has been used to justify striking down the state’s largely protective law that prohibits abortion around six weeks, when a heartbeat can be detected. Attorney General Dave Yost is arguing that parts of the law should stand, according to the Dayton Daily News.

“The state respects the will of the people regarding the six-week abortion ban, but the state is also obligated to protect provisions in SB23, as passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor, that the constitutional amendment does not address,” his office told the media. “It is up to the courts to determine how conflicts between those two documents are resolved.”

The state is appealing the law.

The informed consent part of state law does not prohibit anyone from having an abortion. Instead, it ensures women know there are resources available if they choose life for their preborn babies.

“The law under attack tasks the Department of Health with creating a public-facing website in English and Spanish that outlines alternatives to abortion programs and resources like state-funded medical assistance and the father’s financial support,” according to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

The abortion industry’s opposition even to informed consent shows these activists are pro-abortion, not simply “pro-choice.”

One reason the industry might oppose the law is that women tend to choose life, and thus won’t give money to Planned Parenthood, the more they know about their babies. For example, a 2024 report from Heartbeat International found “80% of women considering an abortion choose life when they see an ultrasound.”

Women, and dads, should be given all evidence their baby is not a clump of cells but a real human being.

The detection of heartbeats is a recent point of criticism from the abortion industry, which now seeks to downplay established science. As heartbeat abortion laws grew in popularity, media outlets began saying that women did not really hear their babies’ hearts.

But as I noted at the College Fix, mainstream medical websites, such as Healthline, had previously affirmed a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected around five to six weeks gestation. These statements were signed off on by credentialed medical experts.

Ohio should do what it can to nullify the harms of its radical abortion amendment. Courts should allow the state at least to ensure women know the life they are ending is that of a real human being with a heartbeat.