Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold the state’s heartbeat law protecting babies from abortions.
Yost filed an appeal the the Ohio Supreme Court asking for the state’s abortion ban after about six weeks of pregnancy to be reinstated so it can begin protecting babies from abortions when theyr heart is beating.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian Jenkins put the law on hold while the case continues, making a bogus claim that the state constititon allows abortions.
Here’s more on the case and how a change on the highest court may help get the abortion ban enforced:
Yost’s office challenged that decision, but the 1st District Court of Appeals rejected the appeal as premature. Now, Yost’s office is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to weigh in.
“This case presents the question of whether the Ohio Constitution protects a right to abortion. The sooner the Court settles that question, the better,” wrote Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin Flowers in an appeal filed last week. The appeal is discretionary, which means the Court can decide whether or not to address it.
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The Ohio Supreme Court is under new leadership as Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy replaced outgoing Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor. Both judges are Republicans, but they split on a decision about the Toledo abortion clinic in 2018. Kennedy and fellow Republican justices ruled against the clinic.
Yost’s office argues that there is no constitutional right to abortion in Ohio. The filing also contends that abortion clinics − as opposed to those seeking abortions − do not have the ability to challenge Ohio’s abortion restrictions.
Ohio abortion business filed suit in state court seeking to overturn the pro-life heartbeat law that was saving babies from abortions following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
After the decision, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued an executive order directing the Ohio Department of Health to adopt emergency rules implementing Ohio’s Heartbeat Law. This Executive Order was in response to the federal court lifting the injunction on Ohio’s Heartbeat Law. Attorney General Dave Yost filed a legal request to lift the injunction due to the United States Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
With the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the pro-abortion request for an injunction, abortions were banned in Ohio starting at 6 weeks, when an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected.
Now the state’s high court will have another chance to weigh in on this new lawsuit.
Preterm-Cleveland, Planned Parenthood Greater Ohio and other abortion businesses were behind the lawsuit. In addition to Preterm and Planned Parenthood, plaintiffs include Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, Women’s Med Group Professional Corp. in Dayton, Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, Toledo Women’s Center and Dr. Sharon Liner, an individual abortionist.
The lawsuit specifically argues the Ohio Constitution’s due process rights under the Due Course of Law Clause protects women’s reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity. The heartbeat law discriminates against women, in violation of the Equal Protection and Benefit Clause, the lawsuit claims.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.
Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.
“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.
Despite false reports that abortion bans would prevent doctors from treating pregnant women for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, pro-life doctors confirm that is not the case. Some 35 states have laws making it clear that miscarriage is not abortion and every state with an abortion ban allows treatment for both.
