Abortion businesses in Ohio have filed a request to permanently repeal the state’s “heartbeat law.” In the request, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the WilmerHale law firm are asking to amend a previous lawsuit they filed against the law on the basis that the state’s newly passed constitutional amendment makes it now moot.
The law, signed in 2019 by Governor Mike DeWine, protects preborn lives after an embryonic heartbeat is detected. This usually occurs around six weeks, though the heart starts beating as early as 16 to 22 days post-fertilization. The law has not been in effect since October 2022, as it is currently blocked by the court after a lawsuit filed by the abortion industry.
In November, Ohio voters passed a ballot measure enshrining the “right” to abortion in the state’s constitution. Almost immediately, the abortion industry signaled its intention to repeal all pro-life laws, including the heartbeat law.
“The Ohio Constitution now plainly and precisely answers the question before the court – whether the six-week ban is unconstitutional – in the affirmative,” read a statement released by PPFA, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, the ACLU’s national and Ohio chapters and other abortion facilities in the state.
“By banning abortion from the earliest weeks of pregnancy and thus forcing continued pregnancy and childbirth upon countless Ohioans, (the six-week ban) prohibits plaintiffs’ patients from exercising their fundamental rights in violation of the Ohio Constitution’s broad protections for individual liberties under Article 1, Sections 1, 16 and 21,” the complaint states, referring to the Issue 1 amendment.
Last week the state Supreme Court also weighed in on the heartbeat law. After the lower court placed the injunction on the law last year, the state appealed to the Supreme Court. The court Friday dismissed the state’s appeal “due to a change in the law.” That dismissal sends the case back to the lower court, where it can be permanently blocked.
In a statement released December 7, Attorney General Dave Yost said “The state is prepared to acknowledge the will of the people on the issue, but also to carefully review each part of the law for an orderly resolution of the case.”
