Abortion in Ohio: Dayton-area clinic plans to close in mid-September

The Dayton area's sole abortion clinic plans to close in mid-September unless laws banning most abortions in Ohio and Indiana are put on hold, a Women's Med spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in late June, laws in both states dramatically reduced access to abortion. Ohio allows abortions until cardiac activity is detected, which is about six weeks into pregnancy. Indiana legislators recently passed a ban on nearly all abortions with exceptions for rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormalities or life of the pregnant person. That law takes effect Sept. 15.

Women's Medical Center, which operates independent abortion clinics in Dayton and Indianapolis, plans to close both locations unless legal intervention can block one or both laws. One lawsuit challenging Ohio's six-week abortion ban is currently before the state Supreme Court. Another lawsuit was filed in Indiana Tuesday.

“We are going to see as many people and do as much for these people as we can until we close down,’’ Dr. Jeanne Corwin told the Associated Press.

The Dayton clinic has been sending its patients to Indianapolis and sometimes Chicago for abortions performed after six weeks into the pregnancy. But if the Indiana clinic closes, the Ohio one will follow, a Women's Med spokeswoman said. "It’s just so few patients that it doesn’t make sense to stay open."

That closure would leave Dayton, a city of nearly 140,000 people, without an abortion clinic. The next closest locations in Ohio are Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio's Mount Auburn Health Center or Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio's East Columbus clinic.

"This is a heartbreaking loss for everyone in west central Ohio," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio, criticizing Republicans' actions to restrict access to abortion. "Whether a person needs an abortion because it endangers their health or their birth control failed, no one should be forced to give birth because they cannot access the health care they need in their community."

The Dayton clinic has been a target of abortion opponents for years. The GOP-controlled Legislature recently passed a law that would prevent doctors affiliated with public universities from coordinating with abortion clinics − an apparent attempt to close the Dayton location.

"Ohio Right to Life is grateful that this notorious abortion facility will shut down for good.  An unimaginable number of babies have lost their lives there and no longer will the greater Dayton area be subjected to this great tragedy," said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, which lobbied for Ohio's abortion bans. "We know that the Montgomery County pro-life and health care community stand ready to provide real care to each and every pregnant woman who may need it."

Will Ohio's remaining abortion clinics stay open?

Planned Parenthood operates three abortion clinics in Ohio, located in Cincinnati's Mount Auburn, East Columbus and Bedford Heights near Cleveland. All remain open and are scheduling abortions until six weeks into pregnancy, spokeswomen said. Patient navigators help those who are past that point find abortions in other states.

"Of course, this is not the ideal," said Maya McKenzie, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio. "Ohioans deserve much more in terms of medical access."

As of Tuesday, websites for Northeast Ohio Women’s Center in Cuyahoga Falls and Shaker Heights, Preterm Cleveland, Your Choice Healthcare of Columbus and Toledo Women's Center indicated they were open and offering abortion appointments in line with Ohio law.

The number of abortion clinics has dwindled in Ohio as GOP lawmakers approve restrictions on the procedure, including bans on the number of weeks it's permitted and restrictions on how it can be performed.

Republican lawmakers have said they plan to ban nearly all abortions in Ohio later this year.

After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Ohio clinics sought relief from the state supreme court. But justices denied an initial request to put Ohio's six-week abortion ban on hold. The case is ongoing.

The Associated Press and Indianapolis Star contributed to this report.

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio abortion clinic plans to close mid-September