Ohio's restrictive six-week 'heartbeat' abortion ban struck down by county judge

A county judge in Ohio struck down the state’s restrictive “heartbeat” abortion law on Thursday (October 24), citing a recently passed voter-approved amendment enshrining reproductive rights in the state constitution.

The ruling by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins declared the 2019 law unconstitutional.

The law, which banned most abortions after cardiac activity is detected — as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women are aware they’re pregnant — had been on hold pending legal challenges.

Jenkins’ decision follows the passage of Ohio’s Reproductive Freedom Amendment last year, which protects the right to abortion up until fetal viability.

In his ruling, Jenkins rebuked Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for seeking to maintain parts of the law despite the clear will of the voters. He said that when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned power over the abortion issue to the states, “Ohio’s Attorney General evidently didn’t get the memo.”

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Yost had requested that all but one provision of the law remain intact, despite the passage of the amendment. The judge rejected that argument.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio sued on behalf of a group of abortion providers, marking the second round of litigation challenging the law. “This is a momentous ruling, showing the power of Ohio’s new Reproductive Freedom Amendment in practice,” said Jessie Hill, cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Ohio. “The six-week ban is blatantly unconstitutional and has no place in our law.”

Tussle over abortion laws

The legal fight over Ohio’s abortion laws has unfolded over several years. The initial lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2019, where the law was blocked under the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. After the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling overturned Roe, the law was briefly allowed to go into effect before being halted again in state court.

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Opponents of the ban argued that it violated Ohio’s constitutional protections for individual liberty and equal protection and was unconstitutionally vague. The passage of the Reproductive Freedom Amendment, known as Issue 1, last year further bolstered their case, as it guarantees Ohioans “the right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.”

Yost acknowledged earlier this year that the amendment rendered the 2019 law unconstitutional but sought to preserve certain notification and reporting requirements. The judge’s ruling, however, struck down the law in its entirety.

With inputs from agencies