(THE CENTER SQUARE) – Abortion providers in Ohio challenged the state’s six-week abortion ban with a lawsuit filed in the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The ACLU of Ohio and Planned Parenthood Federation of America filed the suit after a federal judge, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, lifted an injunction in place since 2019 on the state’s heartbeat bill.
That bill bans abortions in Ohio once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which generally is five or six weeks after conception.
The organizations filed the suit on behalf of Preterm-Cleveland, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, Planned Parenthood Greater Ohio, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation, Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, Toledo Women’s Center and Dr. Sharon Liner, an individual abortion provider. They argue the Ohio Constitution protects health-care choices, including abortion, more than the U.S. Constitution.
“This sweeping measure, which prevents nearly every pregnant person from accessing essential care, is blatantly unconstitutional under Ohio’s state constitution, which has broad protections for individual liberties,” said Freda Levenson, legal director for ACLU of Ohio.
The lawsuit also says the six-week ban is currently inflicting serious and irreparable harm on Ohioans in need of and constitutionally entitled to vital reproductive health care.
“Right now, Ohio patients seeking care beyond six weeks are forced to travel hundreds of miles to access abortion, carry pregnancies to term against their will, or seek care outside the medical system. Senate Bill 23 was blocked for nearly three years, and after being in effect for just a few days, the real-world ramifications are horrific. This law must be stopped,” said Jessie Hill, cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Ohio.
Before the injunction was lifted, the state allowed abortion up to 20 weeks.
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have laws or constitutional provisions protecting abortion, according to reports published by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Also, Ohio House Bill 598 and Senate Bill 123 would serve as “trigger bans,” according to House sponsor Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, that would make it a crime for someone to purposely cause or induce an abortion by an instrument or drug. Those bills remain in committees.
