Order blocking enforcement of Ohio abortion ban stands after high court dismisses appeal

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The Ohio Supreme Court has taken action regarding the state’s challenge to a judge’s order that has prevented the enforcement of Ohio’s nearly complete abortion ban for the past 14 months. This decision now shifts the legal proceedings back to Hamilton County Common Pleas, where abortion clinics recently petitioned Judge Christian Jenkins to nullify the law. This move follows the decision by Ohio voters to endorse the inclusion of abortion rights in the state’s constitution.

On Friday, the high court stated that the appeal had been “dismissed due to a change in the law.” Earlier in March, the justices had agreed to review a county judge’s ruling that halted the enforcement of the abortion restriction and to examine whether the clinics possessed the necessary legal standing to challenge the law. Ultimately, they declined the request from Republican Attorney General Dave Yost to undertake their own examination of the constitutional right to abortion, deferring such arguments to a lower court.

The abortion clinics requested Judge Jenkins on Thursday to permanently block the abortion ban in light of the recent constitutional amendment that Ohio voters ratified. This amendment ensures access to abortion and other reproductive health care services.

The legislation, signed into law by Republican Governor Mike DeWine in April 2019, initially prohibited most abortions after the detection of the “fetal heartbeat,” which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy, often before many women are aware of their pregnancy status. Although the ban was initially halted through federal legal action, it briefly went into effect following the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision last year. Subsequently, it was once again put on hold through proceedings in county court, as part of a subsequent lawsuit challenging its constitutionality under the state constitution.

Yost’s office referred to a statement made on December 7, indicating that the state is prepared to acknowledge the will of the people on the issue while also carefully reviewing each aspect of the law to ensure an orderly resolution of the case. The abortion providers have urged the lower court, which initially blocked the ban, to permanently invalidate it. They cited Yost’s own legal analysis, circulated before the vote, which asserted that the passage of the amendment would render Ohio incapable of limiting abortions before fetal viability, stating that “Ohio would no longer have the ability to limit abortions at any time before a fetus is viable.”

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