WASHINGTON― Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed a 20-week abortion ban into law on Tuesday, making it the 18th state to do so.

At the same time, the governor vetoed a bill that would have banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy― before many women even realize they’re pregnant. Nicknamed the “heartbeat bill,” it would have threatened doctors with up to a year in jail if they performed an abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat. The law would have been the most extreme anti-abortion restriction in the country.

Ohio’s Republican-controlled House and Senate passed both the six-week ban and the 20-week ban last week. Kasich, who strongly opposes abortion rights, despite his reputation as a moderate, was expected to sign the 20-week ban.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade protects a woman’s right to have an abortion up until the fetus is viable outside the womb, around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Less than 1 percent of abortions occur after 20 weeks, and most women who make the decision at that point have discovered a severe fetal anomaly or health issue that had not been detected earlier in the pregnancy.

Abortion rights advocates are more concerned about the 20-week bans than the six-week ban, because the latter has no chance of standing up in court, while the former could actually be a vehicle to overturn Roe.

Reproductive rights supporters have been fiercely protesting the Ohio abortion restrictions, attaching coat-hangers to the fence of the Statehouse to remind lawmakers of a time before abortion was legal when women resorted to dangerous measures to end their pregnancies.

Dawn Laguens, a spokeswoman for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said the 20-week ban is “just another shameful attempt by John Kasich to make abortion illegal.”

“Kasich is on a mission to make abortion illegal in Ohio, and he’s intent on using smoke and mirrors and backdoor politics to do it,” she said. “He may hope that by vetoing a six-week ban – which would have virtually banned abortion with almost no exceptions – he comes off as moderate. But Ohio women see right through this and reject this extreme agenda. The 20-week ban will force women to travel long distances and cross state lines in order to access safe, legal abortion –– a barrier that many women simply cannot afford.”