Ohio judge strikes down state’s six-week abortion ban as unconstitutional
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Ohio judge strikes down state’s six-week abortion ban as unconstitutional

A judge in Ohio issued a permanent injunction Thursday, striking down the state’s six-week abortion law in its entirety while citing the state’s constitutional amendment.

“Ohio voters have spoken,” Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins wrote in the filing. “The Ohio Constitution now unequivocally protects the right to abortion.”

“This is a significant ruling that demonstrates the power of Ohio’s new reproductive freedom amendment in practice,” Jessie Hill, associate attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. “The six-week ban is patently unconstitutional and has no place in our law.”

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The lawsuit was originally filed against Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood on behalf of abortion provider as a result of Ohio’s 2019 law that banned abortions as early as six weeks.

The suit was originally brought against Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood on behalf of abortion providers.

The suit was originally brought against Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood on behalf of abortion providers. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The law was briefly allowed to go into effect in 2022 after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The court then issued a temporary restraining order against the law and later extended the decision for another two weeks. After a hearing in October 2022, the court issued a preliminary injunction that remained in effect until the permanent injunction was issued on Thursday.

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In 2023, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution. In light of the change, Yost admitted to parting the law were unconstitutional—especially the six-week provision—while arguing to uphold others.

In 2023, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution.

In 2023, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution. (Getty Images)

“For even after a large majority of Ohio voters — presumably both women and men — approved an amendment to the Ohio Constitution protecting the right to pre-viability abortion on November 7, 2023, the Attorney General is urging this Court to leave ‘untouched’ everything but a provision in the so-called ‘Heartbeat Act’ that was clearly rejected by Ohio voters,” Jenkins wrote.

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Jenkins disagreed with Yost, writing that if the court were to adopt Yost’s argument, “Ohio physicians who provide abortion care would continue to risk felony charges.”

"Ohio voters have spoken," Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins wrote in the filing.

“Ohio voters have spoken,” Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins wrote in the filing. (Andrew Spear/Getty Images)

Jenkins also stated that upholding certain provisions of the law would still require patients seeking abortions to “make two in-person visits to their health care provider, wait twenty-four hours to receive abortion care, review state-mandated information designed to discourage abortion, and have the reason for their abortion recorded and reported.”

“This dispels the myth that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org. merely returns the issue of abortion to the states,” the filing said.

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“This is a very long, complicated decision covering many issues, many of which are matters of first impression,” Yost’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Yost’s office said the state has 30 days to “determine next steps” and would “review the court’s decision in accordance with that time frame.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.