Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has appealed a court decision that overturned the state’s pro-life “heartbeat law,” which protected preborn children from abortion after about six weeks.
Yost, along with Ohio Department of Health director Bruce Vanderhoff and the State Medical Board of Ohio’s Kim Rothermel and Bruce Saferin, filed his notice of appeal, seeking to overturn Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins’ October ruling. Jenkins placed a permanent injunction on the law, citing the state’s constitutional amendment which now establishes abortion as a constitutional “right.”
In his appeal, Yost acknowledged that due to the amendment, the law restricting abortion would no longer be enforceable. However, he noted that other provisions of the law, including a requirement that doctors first check for a fetal heartbeat and inform patients when the child has a heartbeat and is viable, along with a 24-hour waiting period, should still be legally upheld since they do not conflict with the amendment. Yost said that those provisions should remain “untouched,” since the plaintiffs who sued over the state’s heartbeat law didn’t specifically challenge those portions of the law.
“Seeking appellate review is a necessary and appropriate step,” said Yost spokesperson Bethany McCorkle. “The state respects the will of the people regarding the six-week abortion ban, but the state is also obligated to protect provisions in Senate Bill 23, as passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, that the constitutional amendment does not address. It is up to the courts to determine how conflicts between those two documents are resolved.”
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Jessie Hill, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, made it clear that the abortion industry will continue to fight to remove all pro-life protections.
“We are disappointed that the Attorney General continues to spend taxpayer money on this lawsuit and disregard the very clear message that Ohioans sent when an overwhelming majority approved the Reproductive Freedom Amendment to our constitution,” Hill said in a statement. “But we will keep fighting to ensure that the amendment is enforced, and Ohioans’ rights are protected.”
The First District Court of Appeals will hear Yost’s lawsuit.
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