The Hamilton County Common Pleas Court has ruled on some specific provisions in the six-week abortion ban that hasn’t been enforced since 2023, when Ohio voters passed an amendment guaranteeing abortion rights in the state’s constitution. The court struck down some specifics that were in that law, which was ruled unconstitutional in 2024.
Jessie Hill, the director of the Reproductive Rights Law Initiative at Case Western Reserve and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, has been fighting on the abortion rights side for years. She said there's no doubt that the six-week ban itself can’t be enforced, but added that this lawsuit was over some rules that were in place for the ban's enforcement.
“The state was trying to keep these provisions in place where they wouldn’t really have any effect," Hill said in an interview.
Hill said those provisions included a requirement to report a patient's reason for having an abortion and whether it was related to the health exception that was outlined in the original ban. Another requirement that the court ruled against involved requiring an ultrasound before getting an abortion.
"So basically, checking for the fetal 'heartbeat' was a requirement under this law, and that's something that the court said could not be enforced anymore now that the whole reason for it has gone away," Hill said.
Hill said the court also ruled language involving ectopic pregnancies and contraception did not apply anymore, now that the amendment is in effect.
Ohio Right to Life has been contacted for its response but has not yet commented for this story.
There’s no word yet on whether the state will decide to appeal to a higher court.
There are a few abortion-related bills pending in the legislature. House Bill 347 would revise informed consent laws related to abortion, such as requiring a 24-hour waiting period before the procedure. House Republicans passed the bill, which sponsors titled the Share the Health and Empower With Informed Notices or "SHE WINS" Act, in March. House Bill 754 would require all health care providers to file a "fetal heartbeat life certificate" if one is detected.
