Ohio Activist Toolkit: Abortion Polling and Messaging in the Post-Roe World

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion, and leaving the decision up to the states. Hours after the decision came down, a federal judge in Ohio granted the State’s request to allow a previously blocked abortion ban, Senate Bill 23, to take effect. Senate Bill 23 radically restricts access to abortion in Ohio by outlawing abortion after the detection of fetal cardiac motion, which usually happens at six weeks of pregnancy, with very limited exceptions. On June 29, Ohio abortion providers, represented by the ACLU, ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the law firm WilmerHale, filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court to restore Ohioans’ reproductive rights secured by the Ohio Constitution. 

On September 2, due to the ongoing irreparable harm to Ohioans, the reproductive rights organizations withdrew the lawsuit initially filed in the state Supreme Court in late June and instead asked the lower court to grant immediate relief blocking the ban. On October 7, the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas granted a preliminary injunction (PI) against Senate Bill 23. Abortions up to 22 weeks LMP are now – again – legal in Ohio. 

For a comprehensive look into the current legal battle against S.B. 23, as well as all active reproductive freedom lawsuits in Ohio, visit: Legal Landscape of Abortion in Ohio.