Planned Parenthood and ACLU challenge Ohio abortion regulations

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a challenge to certain abortion laws in Ohio on Friday, its first since voters enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.

The new lawsuit claimed that requiring women to undergo a waiting period and multiple informational sessions about the medical risks of abortion was now violating the state’s constitution and that requiring them to wait 24 hours is delaying “time-sensitive” care.

“These laws are now in clear violation of the newly amended Ohio Constitution, which enshrines the explicit and fundamental right to abortion and forbids the state from burdening, prohibiting, penalizing, and interfering with access to abortion, and discriminating against abortion patients and providers,” Jessie Hill, an attorney with the ACLU of Ohio, said in a press release.

The lawsuit also states that the delays do not have any medical justification, or provide any significant health benefits. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are now asking that restrictions on abortion outside of what’s enshrined in the state constitution be permanently unenforceable.

“Mainstream medical consensus dictates that the best medical practice is to provide patients with timely abortion care without any unnecessary delays and that mandatory waiting periods for abortion do not improve patient health,” the challenge said.

Abortion providers also claim that the rules are unnecessary because they already inform patients of the risks of abortions before doing the procedure and are also insulting to patients because they already carefully considered their options before deciding to get the abortion.

Under state law, the Ohio medical board can pull the license of any doctor who doesn’t comply with the information sessions and the 24-hour waiting period. Doctors and patients can skip the requirements in emergencies.

Ohio voters decided to protect abortion access in the state last November, making it one of four states to amend their constitution to protect the procedure since 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court.

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The Ohio Right to Life group said the Ohio laws are commonsense and should not be overturned.

“These health and safety regulations protect women,” Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It is unconscionable that the abortion industry thinks that women’s health standards should be callously disregarded in order to promote a political agenda.”