abortion bans
Restaurant association won’t comment on its allies in fight to lock down Ohio Constitution
Ohio’s restaurants have some strange bedfellows that their industry representative would rather not talk about — including a billionaire out-of-state election denier. The Ohio Restaurant Association’s members depend on patronage from a broad swath of Ohioans. But in joining the battle to make it a lot harder to amend the Ohio Constitution, it’s taking a […]
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost jumps into Florida abortion fight
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and 14 other attorneys general are arguing in federal court that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was within his powers when he removed a local prosecutor who had spoken out against the state's restrictive new abortion law. But the group that represents Ohio's local prosecutors doesn't seem to agree with that claim, expressing worries that the Florida case threatens the principle of "prosecutorial discretion:" that faced with many possible crimes and limited time and resources, prosecutors need great latitude to decide which cases are most wisely brought.
In the wake of GOP Supreme Court sweep, Ohio activists plan abortion ballot initiative
When Republicans swept all three races for the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday, they swept away hopes that the court would find that the state Constitution protects the right to an abortion. So on Wednesday, abortion-rights activists were strategizing over when and how to get a measure on the ballot that would amend the Ohio […]
Republicans take all three Ohio Supreme Court elections
Republicans appeared to be on their way to sweeping all three open seats on the Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday. The eventual Republican majority that's likely to create will have big implications in the state for years to come.
While in effect, Ohio’s abortion ban led to chaos, suffering, and worse health care, doctor says
By June 24, David Burkons had spent as much time as a doctor could in the post-Roe world. The Cleveland native graduated the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, the same year the landmark decision ensuring the right to an abortion was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Everything changed for the obstetrician […]
Doctors call on DeWine to answer questions about abortion laws
Days after Gov. Mike DeWine said the medical community will be consulted as Ohio considers future abortion legislation, a group of more than 1,400 doctors implored him to answer questions about a law he’s already signed. The Ohio medical community has said that to date, DeWine and Republican lawmakers have shown little interest in what […]
Privacy, stigma may keep workers from using abortion travel benefits
This article originally appeared in Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Several major corporations, from Amazon to Walmart, are promising to pay travel expenses for employees and family members who must leave their home states to receive a legal abortion. But experts who advise those companies say their well-intentioned promises to invest in […]
In response to Dobbs, abortion-rights activists turn to state constitutions
On June 24, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it couldn't find protections in the federal Constitution of a woman's right to abortion — in the process overturning nearly a half-century of decided law. Now abortion-rights activists are turning to state courts and arguing that those protections exist in state constitutions. And at least temporarily, they're having some success.
Affidavits: More pregnant minors who were raped denied Ohio abortions
At least two more minors made pregnant by sexual assault were forced to leave Ohio to avoid having their rapists’ babies, according to sworn affidavits filed by abortion providers. The affidavits were filed in Cincinnati as part of a lawsuit aimed at stopping enforcement of Ohio’s strict new abortion law, which it temporarily did last […]
State constitutions have played second fiddle since the Civil War. Justice DeWine says that’s bad
In a speech last Tuesday, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine said that since the Civil War, state constitutions “too often” have become “secondary.” In the same speech, he highlighted that due-process protections in the Ohio Constitution are different from those in the federal 14th Amendment, which was passed in the wake of the Civil […]
Michigan Supreme Court decision has implications for women in Ohio, Indiana, even Kentucky
A Thursday ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court could have profound implications for women and their doctors in Ohio as well as other neighboring states. The court ruled that a petition signed by a record 730,000 voters was valid and ordered that an amendment protecting abortion rights be placed on the Nov. 8 ballot, the […]
Ohio docs say new abortion law has them working against oaths to do no harm
Set aside the fact that Ohio's newly enacted abortion law forces many women and girls to have their rapists' babies or leave the state for abortions. Even so, because of Ohio's new abortion restrictions, doctors are describing other scenes of almost unimaginable anguish — and increased risks to women and girls who become pregnant.