Two Democrats seized on the last-minute addition of an abortion-related measure into the proposed state budget by introducing a gun-related bill they say is “pro-life”.
The bill from Representatives Bob Hagan of Youngstown and Mike Foley of Cleveland would require the Department of Health to conduct a study on the types of injuries that a gun user could cause. And gun dealers would be required to provide a copy of that study to any person who buys a gun. Foley notes the timing of the bill, which comes a few hours after a requirement that abortion providers to give women written notice if there's a detectable fetal heartbeat was put into the budget.
MF: So of this we understand is tongue-in-cheek... we're serious about the fact that we're tired, and sick and tired of the Republicans engaging in these culture wars, to the detriment of women, and the detriment to our society and we're trying to turn that arundo.
Hagan says that gun deaths and injuries are rising each year, even as abortion rates are falling. Officials from Ohio Right To Life were at that press conference. A spokesman said afterward that the group takes no position on gun legislation, but feels lawmakers need to be concerned about abortion clinics in urban areas that it says are “targeting” African-Americans.