As of last Friday, August 23, the judge halted three legal requirements prior to the provision of abortion services, specifically (1) the 24 hour waiting period for patients, (2) required in-person meeting prior to the 24 wait period, and (3) state mandated medical testing and informational materials that physicians must provide to patients prior to performing an abortion regarding detection of fetal cardiac activity, adoption, etc. Thus, these provision are currently not enforceable statewide, pending the outcome of the case.

 

By way of background, the ACLU—along with some Ohio providers on March 29, 2023, Planned Parenthood, and some physicians groups—sued the State of Ohio, asking the Franking County Court of Common Pleas to declare the above described provisions of the Revised Code to be unconstitutional.

 

This case is relatively unique to Ohio, as the recently passed constitutional amendment provides that “[t]he state shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against” in individual seeking certain reproductive health services (including abortion), and a providers of those services. The question in this case asks whether these tangential requirements that concern abortion services, above and beyond the procedure itself, are also protected by the state constitutional language. Although it is certainly beyond question that abortion procedures prior to viability are protected by the Ohio Constitution, questions about these tangential provisions will likely linger for the foreseeable future.

This case is one of a couple of cases that we are tracking, which challenge various laws restricting reproductive and abortion related care in Ohio. This case also follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to continue access to medication assisted abortion.