Ohio judge blocks the state's six-week abortion ban indefinitely

John L. Dorman
Updated ·3 min read
3
Ohio abortion
Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian Jenkins speaks to Assistant Ohio attorney general Amanda Narog in his courtroom in downtown Cincinnati on October 7, 2022.Sam Greene /The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP

  • An Ohio judge blocked the state's six-week abortion ban, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

  • The court ruling prolonged an earlier suspension of the law, which was set to end next week.

  • Ohio Republican state Attorney General David Yost is expected to appeal the decision.

An Ohio judge on Friday indefinitely blocked a state law that prohibited most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins issued the preliminary injunction after a hearing, rejecting the state's argument that there is no right to an abortion in the state since it isn't mentioned in the Ohio Constitution.

Jenkins said that a right doesn't have to be specifically named within the text in order for it to be protected.

"This court has no difficulty holding that the Ohio Constitution confers a fundamental right on all of Ohioans to privacy, procreation, bodily integrity and freedom of choice in health care decision-making that encompasses the right to abortion," he said.

The decision prolonged an earlier suspension of the law, which was set to end next week.

With the Ohio ruling, the state's restrictive abortion law is now halted until the case makes its way through the courts; without the ban on the books, abortion in the state is legal for up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

The plaintiffs in the case argued that the Ohio law denied women their due process rights, referencing key affidavits, including one of a cancer patient who had to leave the state to receive medical care.

Due to radiation that can be damaging to a fetus, pregnant cancer patients are often presented with the choice of having an abortion before undergoing treatment.

"Does a law that prevents a cancer patient from getting lifesaving treatment infringe on those rights? The answer is obviously it does. Abortion is health care to which Ohioans have a right," Jenkins said on Friday.

Ohio Statehouse
Protesters rally at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus in support of abortion after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.Barbara J. Perenic /The Columbus Dispatch via AP, File

The plaintiffs stated that they were "relieved that patients in Ohio can continue to access abortion as we work to fight this unjust and dangerous ban in court."

Ohio Republican state Attorney General David Yost, who is supportive of the six-week ban, is expected to appeal the decision.

"We will wait and review the judge's actual written order and consult with the governor's administration," a Yost spokesman said after the ruling.

After the United States Supreme Court earlier this year overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States and afforded a constitutional right to the procedure, the issue is now in the hands of individual states.

While many solidly Democratic states have expanded access to abortion rights after the high court's decision, the bulk of GOP-controlled states has gone in the opposite direction — imposing total or near-total abortion bans.

The restrictive laws have led to a torrent of litigation across a multitude of states seeking to overturn the bans.

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