Ohio Judge Blocks Informed Consent Law on Abortion, Putting Women’s Lives at Risk

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David Young blocked Ohio from enforcing the state law requiring a 24-hour waiting period after an initial in-person appointment before a woman can have an abortion, as well as an informed consent provision to inform the woman of all her options regarding pregnancy and adoption.

Judge Young granted the preliminary injunction against the laws saying they violated Ohio’s new abortion amendment.

Center for Christian Virtue Senior Fellow for Strategic Initiatives Peter Range condemned the ruling:

“Facing an unexpected pregnancy, a mother deserves to know all of her options, free from coercion or pressure. Ohio’s common sense law requiring a 24-hour waiting period before a mother procures an abortion gives her the time, space, and opportunity to learn about the resources that are available to her.

“Today’s decision hurts women and mothers in our state.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit earlier this spring seeking to remove the mandatory 24-hour waiting period for women pursuing abortion, which is legally required to take place after they receive information about the abortion.

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The stipulations include private appointments with physicians who inform pregnant women of various details such as the age of their developing babies, the risks of having an abortion and life-affirming alternatives. Ohio law allows elective abortion up to viability, or roughly 22 weeks gestation.

The legal period for abortion extended in November 2023, when voters approved a constitutional amendment called Issue 1 that upended the previously enacted heartbeat bill that banned abortion around six weeks gestation, becoming the fourth state to enshrine a so-called “right” to abortion in its constitution since the historic overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a slew of pro-abortion organizations in the Buckeye State, including the Planned Parenthood facilities of Southwest Ohio and Greater Ohio, Preterm-Cleveland, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation and Northeast Ohio Women’s Center. The plaintiffs have argued that the laws in question violate the constitutional amendment abortion protections passed last year and requested that the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas declare them unenforceable.

“The same groups that insisted Issue 1 was about guarding women’s healthcare are using the abortion amendment to remove Ohio’s law on giving women adequate time and information so they can make a voluntary decision,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Midwestern Regional Director Sue Liebel.

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