Under Ohio law, before an abortion is performed in the state, a patient must wait 24 hours after receiving stand-mandated information from their doctor. A physician is also required to test the patient for fetal cardiac activity.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the law firm Covington & Burling LLP filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas against Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the director of the Ohio Department of Health, many county prosecutors in the state and others Friday.
The lawsuit argues the requirements violate Ohio’s recently enshrined constituional right to abortion passed by voters on Nov. 7, 2023.
The plaintiffs are asking the Court to strike down the law stating it is an unnecessary barrier to care. They’re also asking for temporary relief to block the law while the case plays out.
Jonathan Entin, a professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University, said he thinks we will learn a lot more about the meaning of the reproductive rights amendment from this case.
“The basic claim is that the the state has put its thumb on the scale to discourage or prevent abortions, and that is inconsistent with the Ohio reproductive rights amendment that the voters approved last year," Entin said.
While there has been plenty of attention put on the lawsuit against the heartbeat law, which prevents abortions beyond six weeks into a pregnancy, he said the ruling on this one could be more telling in terms of which laws will survive.
“This lawsuit goes to other less drastic regulations and will give Ohio courts a chance to weigh in on exactly how sweeping that reproductive right under the Ohio Constitution actually is," Entin said.
He said he expects this case to go to the Ohio Supreme Court and said it could be months to a year before a verdict is reached.