Ohio House Bill 258, more widely known as the “Heartbeat Bill,” has been raising significant controversy, due in part to how stringent it is.

The bill does not include exceptions for special circumstances, such as abortions sought due to rape or incest, but it does allow for medically necessary abortions, which would save the life of the mother. Under the bill, doctors who perform abortions outside of the guidelines set forth could potentially face a year in prison.

Morgan Gale, a senior with a history of reproductive rights activism, believes a heartbeat is more symbolic of life than a determinant of it.

“I personally don’t think the heartbeat is that significant because it doesn’t imply brain function. Also, I don’t think arguments about heartbeats and personhood are very helpful because I think that the life of the person who is pregnant is most important. Even if abortion was murder, the pregnant person still has the right to prioritize their own well being over a potential life,” Gale said.

Anti-abortion advocates often contend abortions are acts of murder. According to Ed Sitter, executive director of Toledo-based, anti-abortion organization Foundation for Life, life begins at conception not at a certain stage of pregnancy or at birth.

“The ultimate goal is to outlaw abortion altogether. It’s easy for people to comprehend the fact that life would begin when the heart starts beating, and so from that standpoint, this bill would protect those babies when the heartbeat can be detected and help to foster a better understanding within the culture that it is in fact a human being; it’s not a blob of tissue or property owned by ‘the mother,’” he said.

Republican majority Ohio could pass the Heartbeat Bill after Republican Gov. John Kasich, who vetoed the bill, leaves office.

The Heartbeat Bill passed in the Ohio House of Representatives with a 60-28 vote on Dec. 13 then passed in the Senate with a 18-13 vote on Dec. 21.

Kasich vetoed the bill, anticipating it would be declared unconstitutional and backfire with expensive legal fees. Legislators from the House and Senate fell one vote short of overriding Kasich’s veto on Dec. 27.

Sitter thinks Republican Governor-elect Mike DeWine will likely allow this bill, or a similar one, to become law.

“It’s in the process of being reintroduced this week, in the House and in the Senate, and the governor (DeWine) has committed to signing the heartbeat bill,” Sitter said. “Like any of these measures that we pass, it will be challenged in the courts, but we think this a great law to expand protection for the unborn in this nation in a phenomenal way.”

Gale also said DeWine is likely to push this bill or a similar one through legislation.

“I think it’s pretty likely to become law because Mike DeWine has said before that he will sign it. Since it’s made it through both the House and Senate before, it can probably happen again. It remains to be seen whether or not it would get through the Supreme Court,” she said.

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Harris Insights & Analytics poll detailing public support for the Roe. v. Wade supreme court decision.