COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio judge on Friday temporarily blocked several state laws that together created a 24-hour waiting period for obtaining an abortion in the state, in the first court ruling on the merits of a Constitutional Amendment 2023 which guarantees access to the procedure.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost said he would appeal.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David C. Young said the language of Issue 1 from last year was “clear and unambiguous.” He found that attorneys for Preterm-Cleveland and the other abortion clinics and doctors who filed suit had clearly shown “that the challenged statutes burden, penalize, prohibit, impede, and discriminate against patients for exercising their right to an abortion and against health care providers for assisting them in exercising that right.”
The challenged rules include a 24-hour waiting period, a requirement for an in-person visit and several state mandates requiring those seeking an abortion to receive certain information. Young said the provisions do not promote patient health.
“This is a historic victory for abortion patients and for all Ohio voters who supported the constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy,” Jessie Hill, an attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. “It is clear that Ohio’s newly amended Constitution works as voters intended: protecting the fundamental right to abortion and prohibiting the state from infringing on that right except when necessary to protect a pregnant woman’s health.”
Hill said the ACLU will seek to make the temporary ban permanent.
Young rejected the state’s argument that the legal standard that preceded the US Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade should have been applied in 2022. The Dobbs ruling that replaced Roe returned decision-making power to the states, Young wrote.
According to Yost’s office, 24-hour waiting periods and informed consent laws have been consistently upheld under Roe, the state law that protected legal abortions for nearly 50 years.
“We have heard the voices of the people and recognize that reproductive rights are now protected in our Constitution,” Yost spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said in a statement. “However, we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision that requiring physicians to obtain informed consent and wait 24 hours before performing an abortion imposes a burden. These are essential safeguards designed to ensure that women receive appropriate care and make voluntary decisions.”