05/13/2024

Planned Parenthood Challenges Additional Ohio Abortion Laws

In 2021, Planned Parenthood challenged an Ohio law which required that any initial dose of medication-induced abortion must be consumed by the patient while physically present in the same location of their physician. This effectively would have outlawed telemedicine used to facilitate medication induced abortion in Ohio. There were felony criminal penalties attached to violations of the law. The judge issued an injunction halting the law’s enforceability, which remains in place today. Planned Parenthood asked the court (in Hamilton County) that the law be declared unconstitutional based on equal protection and substantive due process, along with Ohio’s guarantee of free choice in health care. The case continued without a decision through the 2022 election, where Issue 1 (guaranteeing a right to abortion in the state) was approved by voters to become part of the Ohio Constitution.

Last week, Planned Parenthood motioned the court in this case to file an amended complaint to include the recently-passed Constitutional right to abortion as support to their initial claims. In addition, Planned Parenthood asked the court to declare unconstitutional a patchwork of statutes that prohibit advanced practice clinicians from providing medication abortions, along with R.C. 2919.123 which limits the prescription and administration of mifepristone in medication induced abortions to strictly be used only in the manner as described on the FDA’s final drug label instructions, which includes a ban on use after 70 days of the patient’s last missed period.

In addition to the request that the court declare these provisions unconstitutional, Planned Parenthood has also asked (as with the previous claims) for the court to issue a preliminary injunction for the challenged laws.

We now await action by the court as to whether the new laws that were challenged (i.e. advanced practice clinicians, limitations on mifepristone) will also be blocked from being enforced pending the final outcome of the case.