Judge Strikes Down Ohio’s ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban

Abortion advocates gather for a rally in Columbus, Ohio, on June 24, 2022. Megan Jelinger/Reuters

Ohio’s abortion ban is no longer in effect after a judge on Oct. 24 ruled that a constitutional amendment means that voters rejected such restrictions.

“Ohio voters have spoken. The Ohio Constitution now unequivocally protects the right to abortion,” Common Pleas Court Judge Christian A. Jenkins said.

The 2019 law in question required doctors who plan to perform an abortion to figure out whether the unborn fetus has a heartbeat, which is usually detectable after about six weeks. If a heartbeat was detected, the law barred abortions unless they were deemed necessary to prevent the pregnant woman’s death or a serious risk of impairment of a “major bodily function.”

Violations could land a doctor in prison.

Shortly after the law was enacted, a federal court blocked it based on U.S. Supreme Court precedent, including Roe v. Wade.

The preliminary injunction was removed after justices in 2022 struck Roe down.

Jenkins in 2023 entered a new preliminary injunction, finding that the law conflicted with Ohio’s Constitution, which limits the power of Ohio to regulate the purchase of health care.

As the Ohio Supreme Court prepared to rule on an appeal, Ohio voters passed the Reproductive Rights Amendment, which states in part that “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including abortion, and that the state shall not interfere with women seeking to exercise that right.

Both state officials and plaintiffs in the case agreed that the amendment meant that the part of the law prohibiting abortions after a heartbeat was detected should not take effect.

The law, known as S.B. 23 or the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act, contained multiple other provisions, including making it a felony to perform an abortion without checking for a heartbeat. That and all other provisions should be unblocked, state officials had argued. Plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, said all the provisions except those unrelated to abortion should be enjoined.

Jenkins sided with the plaintiffs. “To give effect to the plain language of the Reproductive Rights Amendment, any regulation that directly or indirectly burdens, penalizes, prohibits, interferes with or discriminates against the voluntary exercise of the right to pre-viability abortion in Ohio presumptively violates the Amendment,” he said.

“This is a very long, complicated decision covering many issues, many of which are issues of first impression. Under the Rules of Appellate Procedure, the State has up to thirty days to determine next steps. We will review the Court’s order in accordance with that timeframe,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told news outlets in a statement.

“This is a momentous ruling, showing the power of Ohio’s new Reproductive Freedom Amendment in practice,” Jessie Hill, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said in a statement. “The six-week ban is blatantly unconstitutional and has no place in our law.”