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John Kasich pulled a bait-and-switch with a major abortion bill in Ohio.

In a surprising move, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has vetoed the controversial "heartbeat bill" that recently passed the state's House and Senate.

The bill, which would've been one of the nation's strictest abortion laws if it passed, banned abortion as soon as a physician could detect a heartbeat — as soon as six weeks.

John Kasich during his 2016 presidential campaign. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images.


The measure was expected to pass. It was tacked onto a noncontroversial child abuse law supported by both Democrats and Republicans. But after several emotional testimonies in the state House, as well as the outspoken efforts of activists and physicians, the bill was stopped.

That's the good news.

But Kasich's veto of the "hearbeat bill" is still not a victory for the pro-choice movement. Far from it.

Kasich signed into law a second bill banning abortions after 20 weeks. Remarkably, it's his 18th restriction on abortion rights as governor.

The 20-week ban also contains no exceptions for rape or incest cases, and according to the Columbus Dispatch, the law "will make it a fourth-degree felony for a physician to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy except to save a mother's life. The felony is punishable by up to 18 months in prison. A conviction also would result in the loss of a physician's medical license."

Needless to say, the vetoing of one extreme bill and passing of another has not escaped the attention of abortion rights activists:‌‌‌‌‌

"The 20-week abortion ban callously disregards the unique circumstances that surround a woman’s pregnancy," NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said in a statement. "Once a woman has made the decision to end a pregnancy, she needs access to safe and legal abortion care in her community. Kasich’s actions today will fall hardest on low-income women, women of color, and young women."

Make no mistake: A 20-week abortion ban is still a ban — and an attack on women's rights.

Demonstrators commemorate the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

According to Planned Parenthood, 99% of abortions occur before 21 weeks, but those that occur after are sometimes because of life-threatening anomalies that can only be detected later in pregnancy. They're wanted pregnancies that are simply dangerous to the mother or child.

Take April Salazar's story, for example. At 21 weeks, Salazar found out that her unborn son had lethal skeletal dysplasia and would die minutes after being born. Laws like the one passed in Ohio would force Salazar to carry that fetus to term, only to watch it suffer and die. There are numerous stories like hers — almost too many to count — but the key point is that every woman should have safe access to abortion regardless of an arbitrary time limit.

So far, 17 states have passed similar 20-week abortion bans.

If you support a woman's right to choose, it's more important than ever to pay attention and not let laws like this pass.

20-week bans — or any limitations on abortion — are a direct threat to the constitutional right recognized by Roe v. Wade more than 40 years ago. The people behind them are pretty up-front about that: "The 20-week ban was nationally designed to be the vehicle to end abortion in America," Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, said in a statement.

Odds are we'll be seeing more laws like this in the coming years. If you're against them, you need to make your voice heard.  

Community

How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

Here’s what people facing food insecurity want you to know about solving the hunger problem in America

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Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

Here are the four most important things people facing hunger want you to know.

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Pets

Family brings home the wrong dog from daycare until their cats saved the day

A quick trip to the vet confirmed the cats' and family's suspicions.

Family accidentally brings wrong dog home but their cats knew

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Outside of collars, harnesses and bandanas, immediately identifying the dog that belongs to you has to be a secret skill because at first glance, their personalities are also super similar. That's why it's not surprising when one family dropped off their sweet golden pooch at daycare and to be groomed, they didn't notice the daycare sent out the wrong dog.

See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn't fooling her feline siblings.

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A 12-year-old student wrote Costco's CEO asking for help.

Imagine your 12-year-old son is helping take part in his school’s Valentine’s Day fundraiser. You’d probably be proud and encouraged at the way he’s getting involved and doing something good, right?

Now imagine, as part of that effort, he decided to email the CEO of Costco, one of the most beloved big box retailers in the world. Well, that’s cute, right? But what if he told you the CEO not only wrote back but went out of his way to donate exactly what your son asked for?

It may sound too good to be true, but that’s exactly what happened when Grant Cerwin sent an email to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek. The sixth grader emailed Jelinek asking if he would donate one of Costco’s famous 93-inch teddy bears to his middle school’s fundraiser in Los Angeles:


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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

From dogs to dancers, we've got a whole list of smile-worthy finds.

Have you ever wondered if laughter counts as exercise? After all, your heart rate increases, your muscles seize up and sometimes you can't even breathe. That sure sounds like exercise.

Actually, laughter does burn extra calories. If you can keep the giggles going for 10-15 minutes, you can burn 40 calories. Do that a few times a day, and you've not only gotten in a decent burn for not a lot of work, but you've also given your immune system a boost and lowered your blood sugar levels.

If you're looking for a laugh, we've got a few things here that ought to do the trick. And we've got a bunch of other things that are definitely worth smiling about, so if you could use a mood boost, we've got you.

Enjoy!

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Pop Culture

This mesmerizing dance routine is a cultural phenomenon in China and with good reason

Hearing impaired performers come together in perfect synchronization to share a beautiful message.

Hi China/Youtube

Dancers emulate Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion

In a world full of jaw-dropping dance routines, the Thousand Hand Guan Yin manages to captivate like no other.

A large group of performers in identical golden costumes flow together in synchronized movement so seamlessly that it appears as though one entity with several arms is moving about space.

That entity is Guan Yin, a goddess of compassion who, according to Buddhist legend, will never rest in nirvana as long as any sentient being suffers on Earth.

Guan Yin is often depicted with a thousand arms, having an eye in the palm of each hand, to symbolize an omnipresent mother figure always witnessing the pain of humanity with endless amounts of mercy, extending out one of her many arms to lend a helping hand.

The performers emulate this with intricate, delicate hand gestures while standing very close to one another, resulting in a mesmerizing optical illusion.

But the dance in and of itself isn't the most remarkable thing about this piece—each of the performers are hearing impaired.

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Infidelity is devastating for relationships. When you find out a partner has been unfaithful it can feel like a bomb went off in the middle of your living room while you were just trying to drink your morning coffee. The carnage from an affair can be extensive, especially if there are children involved.

But no matter what circumstances the infidelity happened, the partner who was on the receiving end of the betrayal often wonders why? It can send some people in a spiral of shame and self blame for the actions of their partners which feel debilitating. Oftentimes, the betrayed partner never feels like they get a truthful answer from their partners but one Reddit user decided to invite partners that have strayed to explain why they cheated.

Surprisingly, many of the answers were extremely insightful seemingly showing extraordinary growth since that time in their lives. There was also a lot of remorse expressed for their previous harmful behaviors.

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