An Ohio district judge on Friday temporarily blocked several state laws that collectively require a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion, in the court’s first ruling on the legality of a 2023 constitutional amendment guaranteeing access to the procedure.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost announced that he would appeal.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David C. Young said the language in Issue 1 last year was “clear and unambiguous.” He noted that attorneys for Preterm-Cleveland and the other abortion clinics and doctors who filed suit had clearly demonstrated “that the challenged laws burden, penalize, impede and discriminate against patients exercising their right to an abortion and against providers who assist them in exercising that right.”
The controversial regulations included a 24-hour waiting period, a requirement for an in-person visit and several state requirements requiring that people seeking abortions be given certain information. Young said these provisions were not conducive to patients’ health.
“This is a historic victory for abortion patients and for all Ohio voters who expressed support for the constitutional amendment protecting reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy,” said Jessie Hill, cooperating attorney with the ACLU of Ohio, in a statement. “It is clear that Ohio’s newly amended Constitution works as voters intended: It protects the fundamental right to abortion and prohibits the state from violating it except when necessary to protect the health of a pregnant person.”
Hill said the ACLU will continue to push to make the injunction permanent.
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Young rejected the state’s argument that the legal standard that existed before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 should have applied. The Dobbs decision, which replaced Roe, returned decision-making power to the states, Young wrote.
Yost’s office said 24-hour waiting periods and informed consent laws have been consistently upheld under Roe, the law protecting legal abortion for nearly 50 years.
“We have heard the voices of the people and recognize that reproductive rights are now protected in our Constitution,” Yost spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said in a statement. “However, we respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling that requiring doctors to obtain informed consent and wait 24 hours before performing an abortion is burdensome. These are essential safeguards designed to ensure that women receive appropriate care and can make voluntary choices.”
