Columbus, Ohio — Two more Ohio laws prohibit Abortion These proposals have been blocked by the courts, as the legal effect of a 2023 constitutional amendment guaranteeing access to the process is still being felt.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Alison Hathaway issued a preliminary injunction on Aug. 29 that extends an existing order temporarily halting enforcement of a law banning the use of telemedicine in medication abortions.
It also blocks another law that prevents non-doctors — including midwives, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants — from prescribing mifepristone, the abortion pill used in the procedure.
Hathaway’s ruling came after a Columbus judge blocked Ohio from enforcing several other laws that created 24-hour waiting periods for those seeking abortions. Any appeal by the state could ultimately reach the Ohio Supreme Court, where three seats — and partisan control — are in play this fall and abortion is considered a critical issue.
In her order, Hathaway said it was clear there had been a “substantial change in the status quo”. The amendment, known as Issue 1, came into effect In December — many of Ohio’s current abortion restrictions will likely be rendered unconstitutional.
He said the state’s argument that these laws are important to the “health and safety of all Ohioans” failed to meet the new legal standard, while attorneys for Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region and other clinics and physicians who filed suit against the Ohio Department of Health say they have a higher chance of winning.
“The amendment provides broad protections to ensure reproductive autonomy for patients in Ohio,” he wrote. “Plaintiffs have pleaded with clear and convincing evidence sufficient to prove that the restrictions in question here violate these newly vested rights in a manner that is not the least restrictive, and actually causes harm to plaintiffs’ patients.”
Peter Range, senior fellow for strategic initiatives at Ohio’s Center for Christian Virtue, said it’s now clear that the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood and others fighting Ohio’s abortion restrictions “are going after every common law that protects mothers and babies in our state.”
“This most recent ruling is another example of how they want abortion on demand without restriction,” he said in a statement, calling for a return to “common-sense laws that protect women and preborn babies in Ohio.”
Ohio’s law targeting telemedicine abortions — conducted at home while a person meets remotely with their medical provider — was already on hold under a separate temporary order from 2021. But the lawsuit was recently amended to include the passage of Issue 1 and, at that time, objections to the mifepristone ban.
The Reproductive Rights Amendment passed in Ohio with nearly 57% of the vote. It guarantees every Ohioan the right to “make and implement their own reproductive decisions.”