COLUMBUS, Ohio — After the passage of Issue 1 in November, the "Heartbeat Act" is now considered unconstitutional, but parts of the legislation may live on.  

What You Need To Know

  • The "Heartbeat Act" went into effect in 2019 after Roe v. Wade was overturned

  • When Issue 1 passed, it made the "Heartbeat Act" unconstitutional 

  • Issue 1 was codified in the Ohio Constitution and protects various reproductive rights

Ohioans passed Issue 1 last fall, which codified the right to various of reproductive rights including rights to contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and abortions up to the point of fetal viability. Once this legislation passed, it made the 2019 "Heartbeat Act" virtually irrelevant and legally unconstitutional. 

The law has been under consideration by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins since 2019. Abortion clinics and various health care officials had been fighting to overturn the law ever since, but now the legislation has no real leg to stand on.

Ohio was the only state last year to consider a statewide abortion rights question. Attorney General Dave Yost said that he has a good idea what Jenkins’ ruling will be, but is confident that the battle around the legislation is far from over. 

“The questions involved here, some of them are very broad and clear, and we’ve conceded a few of those,” said Yost. “Some of them are much more nuanced and subtle. This will go through the normal course of a decision of the trial court. I’m sure there will be an appeal no matter what the decision is, both sides will be incentivized to appeal, and I have no doubt that it will ultimately end up at the Supreme Court of Ohio.”

While many legislators can assume the ruling of this case, there are other challenges that are pending to certain abortion restrictions in the states. For example, those fighting for reproductive rights might challenge: 

  • A ban on the use of telehealth for medication abortions

  • A requirement that fetal remains from surgical abortions be cremated or buried

  • A 24-hour waiting period requirement

  • A mandate that abortion clinics maintain emergency transfer agreements with local hospitals

Currently, the parental consent law has not been challenged nor has litigation been filed to challenge Ohio’s ban on dilation and extraction, which is a practice that’s usually used in the third trimester. The case before Jenkins could be just the beginning of a long road for legislators figuring out what they want reproductive rights to look like in the state.