COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Ohio’s law requiring abortion patients to wait 24 hours before undergoing an abortion is now temporarily blocked.
On Friday, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted a request by the ACLU of Ohio to lift certain restrictions related to pregnancy termination procedures in the state.
The ruling also affects the personal visitation requirement and the state-mandated information requirements before an abortion.
The ACLU of Ohio cited the Ohio Constitution’s Reproductive Freedom Amendment, which took effect in December 2023, as grounds to challenge these state-mandated requirements.
Abortion freedom advocates have argued that the law was originally intended to be an obstacle to women seeking abortion.
“When Ohioans passed the Reproductive Freedom Amendment in November 2023, they sent a really clear message to the state that we want to keep the government out of our health care decisions,” said Jessie Hil, attorney for the ACLU of Ohio. “We’re just trying to implement the promise of this amendment…”
The pro-life organization Ohio Right to Life issued the following statement following the verdict:
“A 24-hour waiting period for an irreversible, life-changing decision does not affect a mother’s ability to abort her child. The law simply provides a 24-hour cooling-off period to adequately inform and reflect on the finality of the abortion decision.
An abortion ends a child’s life, and Ohio’s 24-hour wait has resulted in countless babies being born in Ohio. Rather than pressuring a mother to have an abortion, she deserves the time and resources to properly consider that decision.”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has been fighting the case for months and his office issued the following statement after the verdict:
“We have heard the people’s voices and recognize that reproductive rights are now protected in our Constitution. However, we respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision 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 make voluntary choices. These measures were consistently upheld in Roe v. Wade. We intend to appeal this ruling.”
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine also shares Yost’s views:
“These guardrails … have worked well before, so I see no reason to change them,” DeWine told ABC 6 in May.
