COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Supreme Court of Ohio will hear oral argument tomorrow in a case brought by abortion providers challenging the state government’s extreme ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a time when many people don’t even know they are pregnant. The case — Preterm-Cleveland v. David Yost — comes to the state Supreme Court after the state government appealed a lower court order blocking the six-week ban, which had been in effect for three months last year after Roe v. Wade was overturned and subjected many Ohioans to needless suffering, forcing them to wait for their health to worsen or travel out of state to receive the care they needed.
The issues currently before the Supreme Court of Ohio are limited to two questions:
1) whether the state government can immediately appeal this order, rather than following the usual Ohio process of keeping a harmful law blocked until the case is decided, and
2) whether abortion providers can protect their patients’ right to abortion care by challenging the ban, as has been accepted legal practice for half a century. If the Supreme Court sides with the state government and rules against abortion providers, the state government will be able to enforce the extreme six-week abortion ban again — denying pregnant Ohioans and their families the power to make the best personal decisions for their health and futures.
Statement from leaders with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Ohio, Preterm-Cleveland, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation, Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, and Toledo Women’s Center:
“This is a critical moment to protect every Ohioans' freedom to make the best personal medical decisions for themselves and their families. This case is about whether we can keep a ban on nearly all abortions — without exceptions for rape or incest — blocked despite the state government doing everything in its power to enforce it. Make no mistake: The threat of Ohio’s extreme ban is serious, with potentially only one court ruling standing between it remaining blocked or going back into effect. No one should ever be forced into dire circumstances or to have to flee their own state to get essential and life-saving health care. We hope the court will reject politicians’ efforts to resume enforcement of this ban and stop the government from making health care decisions for pregnant Ohioans.”
Jessie Hill, cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, will argue the case before the court on behalf of Preterm-Cleveland, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, Planned Parenthood Greater Ohio, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation, Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, Toledo Women’s Center, and Dr. Sharon Liner, an individual abortion provider. The case is being litigated by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the law firm WilmerHale.
This release can be found online here.
An overview of the case and the complaint can be found here.
