Ohio voters approved reproductive rights. Will the state’s quasi-ban on abortion remain?

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A county judge could rule as early as Monday on Ohio’s law banning virtually all abortions, a ruling that will take into account voters’ decision to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution.

The 2019 law under consideration by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins prohibits most abortions as soon as cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women realize it.

A group of abortion clinics sought to overturn the law even before voters approved Issue 1, which gives every person in Ohio “the right to make and carry out their own reproductive decisions.”

Ohio’s Republican Attorney General Dave Yost acknowledged in court filings that the 2023 amendment made the ban unconstitutional, but sought to maintain other elements of the ban, including certain notification and reporting provisions.

Ohio was the only state to consider a statewide abortion rights question in 2023, joining a growing number of states where voters are choosing to protect abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down national protections granted by its landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

In addition to the case before Jenkins, challenges to several other abortion restrictions in Ohio are also pending.

These include banning the use of telehealth for medication abortions, requiring that fetal remains from surgical abortions be cremated or buried, requiring a 24-hour waiting period, and mandating that abortion clinics maintain transfer agreements. emergency services with local hospitals. In some cases, such agreements have been made impossible to obtain by related laws.

Ohio’s ban on abortions due to Down syndrome diagnosis remains in effect, following a 2021 federal court ruling.

Minority Democrats have proposed a House measure to bring state law into compliance with the new amendment outside of court. His bill, which failed to pass Ohio’s Republican majorities, would have repealed the ban on cardiac activity; a ban on dilation and evacuation, a common second-trimester abortion procedure; mandatory 24-hour waiting periods; the transfer agreement requirement; and other restrictions specific to abortion providers.

So far, Ohio’s parental consent law has not been challenged in court or targeted by Democrats, although the anti-abortion campaign Protect Women Ohio has suggested it would be a casualty of the passage of Issue 1.

Litigation also has not been filed to challenge Ohio’s ban on dilation and extraction, a procedure that has been used in the third term of pregnancy. Yost opined during the election amendment campaign that Issue 1 would open the door to allowing them, despite the procedure being prohibited at the federal level.

So-called “heartbeat bills” originated in Ohio before taking off across the country. But it took a decade for the policy to become law in the state.

Then-Republican Gov. John Kasich vetoed the measure twice, arguing that it was unlikely to pass constitutional muster at a time when Roe v. Wade would pass. Wade was still the law of the land.

The law reached Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk and he signed it after justices appointed by former President Donald Trump solidified the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, raising hope among abortion opponents that the restrictions could finally be successfully imposed. .