Columbus, Ohio — Ohio’s most expansive law restricting abortions was struck down by a county judge last Thursday. Voter-Approved Amendment Guarantees Reproductive Rights Makes the so-called heartbeat law unconstitutional.
Enforcement of a 2019 law banning most abortions when cardiac activity is detected in the sixth week of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, has been paused pending a challenge before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins.
Jenkins said “It’s clear the Ohio attorney general didn’t get the memo” when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned power on abortion issues to the states.
The judge said Republican Attorney General Dave Yost’s request to keep all but one provision of the law in place even after a majority of Ohio voters passed an amendment protecting non-viable abortion rights means the high court’s ruling simply The province said the goal is to dispel myths. Power over the issue.
“Despite the adoption of broad, strongly worded constitutional amendments in this and other cases, Ohio is seeking to curtail and limit constitutional protections for abortion rights rather than uphold them,” he wrote. Jenkins said his ruling supports the wishes of voters.
Joe Maiorana/AP
Yost’s office said it is reviewing the order and will decide whether to appeal within 30 days.
“This is a very long and complex decision that addresses many issues, many of which are a matter of first impressions,” the office said in a statement. This means it has never been decided by a court before.
Jenkins’ decision follows a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood and the law firm WilmerHale on behalf of a group of abortion providers in the state. This is the second lawsuit filed to challenge the law.
“This is a significant ruling that really demonstrates the power of Ohio’s new reproductive freedom amendment,” Jessie Hill, associate attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. “The six-week ban is blatantly unconstitutional and has no place in our laws.”
The first lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2019, citing the 1973 landmark Roe v. The Wade decision blocked the law for the first time. It was briefly allowed to take effect in 2022 after Roe was overturned. Opponents of the law appealed to the state court system and the ban was put on hold again. They argued that the law violated the Ohio Constitution’s protective provisions guaranteeing individual liberty and equal protection and was unconstitutionally vague.
After his predecessor twice vetoed the bill, citing Roe, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill in 2019 after then-President Donald Trump’s appointment solidified the Supreme Court’s conservative majority and raised hopes among abortion opponents .
The Ohio lawsuit unfolded as follows. National upheaval over abortion rights This follows Dobbs’ decision to overturn Roe, including a constitutional amendment promoted in Ohio and several other states. Amendment 1, passed by Ohio voters last year, gives everyone in Ohio “the right to make and exercise their own reproductive decisions.”
Yost acknowledged that the amendments he filed with the court this spring made Ohio’s ban unconstitutional, but sought to keep other elements of the 2019 law in place, including certain notification and reporting provisions.
Jenkins said keeping these elements in place would mean subjecting doctors who perform abortions to felonies, fines, license suspension or revocation, civil claims for wrongful death, and requiring patients to make two in-person visits to a provider and wait 24 hours. He said it meant asking for it. Make sure you follow procedures and record and report abortions.
