Ohio appeals order blocking six-week abortion ban

CINCINNATI (Enquirer) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is appealing a Hamilton County judge’s decision to block the state’s six-week abortion ban indefinitely, according to our media partners at the Enquirer.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian Jenkins, a Democrat, ruled that the Ohio Constitution protects abortion rights.

He granted a preliminary injunction to block Ohio’s law, which bans doctors from performing abortions after cardiac activity is detected.

The injunction hearing was not consolidated with a hearing on the merits of the case, meaning the injunction ruling and the present appeal deal only with the injunction against the ban, not its constitutionality.

Read the injunction ruling here.

Ohio’s abortion ban took effect just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. For months, pregnant Ohioans were forced to leave the state to obtain the procedures amid an ever-shifting landscape.

The case of a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim who got an abortion in Indiana became the go-to example nationwide for states’ abortion restrictions.

Jenkins ruled that the Ohio Constitution went beyond the U.S. Constitution to protect residents’ health care decisions and safety. Ohio’s law put an unnecessary burden on the state’s doctors and pregnant women, he said.

But Yost, a Republican, disagrees. He filed a notice of appeal Wednesday with the First District Court of Appeals, which will have a trio of judges review Jenkins’ decision.

Two Republicans and four Democrats serve on that appeals court, including Ohio Supreme Court candidate Marilyn Zayas.

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