Ohio’s six-week abortion ban temporarily blocked

CNN
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An Ohio judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a state law banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, restoring access to abortion in the state for now.

Senate Bill 23 passed in 2019 and went into effect when the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June. The law prohibits abortions performed after early cardiac activity is detected — typically about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant — except in medical emergencies.

With the judge’s ruling, abortion is again available up to 20 weeks after conception (or about 22 weeks after a patient’s last menstrual period). The temporary restraining order is in place for the next 14 days, and the plaintiffs have requested a preliminary injunction while the case plays out.

“SB 23 clearly discriminates against pregnant women and places an enormous burden on them to ensure safe and effective health care, so it violates Ohio’s Equal Protection and Benefit Clause and is therefore unconstitutional,” Judge Christian A. Jenkins wrote in his order.

On September 2, Ohio abortion providers filed a new challenge to SB 23 in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, arguing that the law violates the state constitution. The groups said they were withdrawing their initial challenge to the law that was before the state Supreme Court, which denied their request for an emergency stop.

“We are grateful that Ohioans can once again have broad access to abortion care in their own state. But this is only the first step. We have already seen the devastating impact Senate Bill 23 has had on people, seeking abortions in Ohio,” plaintiffs and litigants said in a joint statement.

The state’s abortion laws have come under particular scrutiny in recent months following a highly publicized case involving a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio who traveled to Indiana to obtain an abortion.

Preterm-Cleveland, an abortion clinic and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said Wednesday that it would resume performing abortions as long as it possibly could.

Ohio Right to Life President Michael Gonidakis said in a statement that “by forum shopping, abortion activists temporarily got what they wanted.”

“We are more than confident that the Heartbeat Act will be withdrawn relatively soon,” he said. “Furthermore, we can assure pro-life Ohio that Ohio will be abortion-free in the near future, regardless of what this local judge has ruled today.”

Laws banning abortion or severely restricting the procedure have gone into effect in about a dozen states after the US Supreme Court struck down a constitutional right to abortion. In several of these states, abortion rights advocates and providers have taken legal action to challenge abortion restrictions and have seen some success in temporarily blocking bans.

In neighboring West Virginia this week, lawmakers passed a bill that would ban nearly all abortions except to save a pregnant person’s life or in certain cases involving rape or incest, sending the measure to the state’s Republican governor for his approval.