A Republican lawmaker has sponsored a bill to require a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, though the existing law requiring that wait is being challenged in court. And the bill also includes some controversial provisions that opponents say are unconstitutional and inaccurate.
Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) is the sponsor of House Bill 347, what's titled the Share the Health and Empower With Informed Notices Act, shortened to "SHE WINS.” Williams said it complies with the constitutional amendment because it affects reproductive health care.
"If you look at it through that lens, then that medical procedure should be required to have informed consent like every other medical procedure in the state of Ohio,” Williams said.
Williams said a 24-hour waiting period between the time someone seeks and actually gets an abortion is part of that informed consent, so he said it's not unconstitutional under a reproductive rights amendment approved in 2023.
“It piggybacks off what the voters voted for. They wanted access to abortion. I understand that as a legislator, but I also understand that if this is a medical procedure, it should have the same medical requirements of informed consent," Williams said. "Doctors should be obtaining informed consent, and you can only obtain informed consent when you actually get the information to the patient and allow them to make that decision on their own with all the medically relevant information."
Abortion rights advocates have long argued against waiting periods. But Jaime Miracle with Abortion Forward said the information that’s being provided as part of that "informed consent" is another concern.
Miracle said doctors would be required to give patients inaccurate health information. As an example, Miracle said doctors would be required to tell patients who use abortion medication that they can reverse the process, something she said is not an acceptable medical practice.
“In fact, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco to see if there was actually a way to take another medication and stop a medication abortion after the first pill was taken and that study was stopped early because too many of the study participants ended up in the emergency room," Miracle said. "So not only is this not a medical thing and complete quack science, but it could be potentially harmful."
Miracle said the 24-hour waiting period would lead to more court gridlock and an additional waste of taxpayer dollars. She said Republican lawmakers in gerrymandered districts who continue to push this type of legislation are not listening to the will of the 57% of Ohio voters who passed the constitutional amendment in 2023.
A Franklin County Court has stayed the existing waiting period under a challenge following voter approval of that reproductive rights amendment. The judge has ruled it interferes with patients in exercising their constitutional rights.
