To amend sections 2108.18, 2108.99, and 2919.14 of the Revised Code to expand the prohibitions on abortion trafficking and the sale of a product of human conception resulting from abortion.
HB928 would expand Ohio’s prohibitions on the sale, transfer, or other exchange of a “product of human conception resulting from an abortion.” The bill amends sections of the Revised Code to bar any person from receiving or providing consideration for such material, including reimbursement framed as storage, processing, handling, transportation, preservation, or similar expenses. It also adds language making it unlawful to sell, offer, advertise, broker, facilitate, or otherwise arrange transactions involving that material for consideration.
The bill also revises related tissue and organ law so that existing reimbursement or consideration provisions do not apply to products of conception from abortion. In addition, it creates or reinforces criminal penalties: violations of the abortion-traffic provisions are treated as a felony, and the bill states there is a presumption in favor of a prison term. The measure would repeal the current versions of the affected statutes and replace them with broader restrictions.
HB928 would narrow the circumstances under which any compensation, reimbursement, or commercial handling of abortion-derived fetal tissue or products of conception could occur in Ohio. It would affect medical providers, laboratories, tissue handlers, brokers, and any entity involved in storage or transport by making even indirect reimbursement potentially unlawful if tied to abortion-derived material. The bill also increases criminal exposure by classifying violations as felony offenses and by directing courts toward imprisonment, thereby strengthening enforcement under Ohio’s criminal code and public health/tissue-regulation statutes.
Because the bill was only introduced and has no recorded committee votes or transcripts, there is no formal legislative vote history to gauge support or opposition. Based on the text alone, the bill reflects a strongly restrictive policy approach toward abortion-related tissue handling and commercial activity. The framing suggests support from lawmakers seeking to prohibit any market-like transactions involving abortion-derived material, while likely drawing opposition from abortion-rights advocates, medical professionals, and research or tissue-handling interests concerned about overbreadth and criminal penalties.
The main points of contention are likely to be whether the bill improperly sweeps in legitimate medical, laboratory, or disposal costs by treating reimbursement as prohibited consideration, and whether the felony penalties and prison presumption are proportionate. Another likely dispute is the breadth of the new offense, which covers not only direct sale but also advertising, brokering, and facilitating transactions, potentially reaching intermediaries and service providers. Supporters would likely emphasize preventing commercialization of abortion-derived tissue, while opponents would likely argue the bill is overly punitive and could chill lawful medical or research-related activity.