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The most extensive of Ohio’s abortion restrictions laws was invalidated by a county judge on Thursday. The judge stated that the amendment passed by voters last year, which guarantees reproductive rights, makes the so-called heartbeat law unconstitutional.
The enforcement of the 2019 law, which prohibited most abortions once cardiac activity is detected as early as six weeks into pregnancy, had been on hold pending the legal challenge before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins.
Jenkins mentioned that despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the power over abortion issues to the states, Ohio’s Attorney General did not seem to understand this. The judge criticized the Attorney General’s request to keep most of the law intact even after the majority of Ohio voters approved an amendment protecting the right to pre-viability abortion.
Yost’s office stated that they are reviewing the order and will decide within 30 days whether to appeal the decision.
Jenkins’ ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the law firm WilmerHale on behalf of a group of abortion providers in the state.
The initial lawsuit challenging the law was filed in federal court in 2019, where it was first blocked under Roe v. Wade. After being briefly allowed to go into effect in 2022 following the overturning of Roe, opponents of the law took the case to the state court system, where the ban was once again put on hold.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the 2019 law after his predecessor vetoed it twice, citing Roe v. Wade. The law was signed once appointments by then-President Donald Trump had solidified the Supreme Court’s conservative majority.
The Ohio litigation has been part of a national debate over abortion rights following the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe. Issue 1, the amendment passed by Ohio voters last year, guarantees every person in Ohio the right to make and carry out their own reproductive decisions.
Yost acknowledged in court filings that the amendment rendered the Ohio ban unconstitutional but sought to maintain other elements of the 2019 law.
Jenkins stated that keeping those elements would have imposed severe consequences on doctors who perform abortions and required patients to go through additional steps before the procedure.
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