COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two more Ohio laws restricting abortions have been blocked by the courts over their legal implications a constitutional amendment from 2023 the guarantee of access to the procedure remains tangible.
Hamilton County Judge Alison Hatheway issued a preliminary injunction on August 29 extending an existing order temporarily halting enforcement of a law banning the use of telemedicine for medical abortions.
It also blocks another law that would ban non-physicians — including midwives, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants — from prescribing the abortion pill mifepristone used in the procedure.
Hatheway’s decision followed a ruling by a Columbus judge order blocking Ohio from enforcing several other laws which together created a 24-hour waiting period for abortion seekers. Any appeals from the state could ultimately reach the Ohio Supreme Court, where three seats — and biased control — are in play this fall and abortion is considered a crucial point.
In her order, Hatheway said it is clear that “the status quo changed dramatically” when the amendment known as Issue 1 took effect in December, likely rendering many existing abortion restrictions in Ohio unconstitutional.
She said the state’s argument that the laws are vital to “the health and safety of all Ohioans” did not meet the new legal standard, while attorneys for Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region and the other clinics and doctors who filed the lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Health have the best chance of winning.
“The amendment provides sweeping protections that guarantee reproductive autonomy for patients in Ohio,” she wrote. “Plaintiffs have presented substantial evidence to show, by clear and convincing evidence, that the prohibitions at issue violate these newly established rights in a manner that is not even remotely restrictive and causes actual harm to plaintiffs’ patients.”
Peter Range, senior fellow for strategic initiatives at the Center for Christian Virtue in Ohio, said it is now clear that the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood and others who are fighting Ohio’s abortion restrictions “are going after every sane law that protects mothers and babies in our state.”
“This most recent ruling is just another example of how they want abortion on demand, without any restrictions,” he said in a statement, calling for a “return to healthy laws that protect women and unborn children in Ohio.”
Ohio’s law targeting telemedicine abortions — performed at home while a person meets with their health care provider remotely — had already passed. placed on hold under a separate temporary order since 2021. But the lawsuit was recently amended to include Issue 1, at which time the objections to the mifepristone restriction were included.
The Reproductive Rights Amendment passed with nearly 57% of the vote in Ohio. It guarantees the right of every Ohioan to “make and exercise their own reproductive decisions.”