Ohio Lawsuit Filed to Enjoin 6 Week Abortion Ban on State Constitutional Grounds of Due Process, Equal Protection, and Freedom to Choose Health Care

Lawsuit Filed Against Ohio Abortion Ban After Roe v. Wade Ruling

Just days after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic decision, multiple groups have come together to file a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court “seeking to block the state’s six-week ban on abortion and to restore and further protect Ohioans’ reproductive rights secured by the Ohio Constitution.”

Their lawsuit comes after a federal judge in Ohio granted the state’s request to allow the previously blocked six-week abortion ban – also known as the “heartbeat bill” – to take effect. The suit argues the bill “radically restricts access to abortion in Ohio by lowering the gestational age limit from 22 weeks to approximately six weeks, with very limited exceptions.”

The Complaint is here: Download Complaint, Preterm Cleveland v. Yost (Ohio S.Ct. 6-29-2022)

See also: Download Memo in Support of Writ, Preterm Cleveland v. Yost (Ohio S.Ct. 6-29-2022)

To add some additional information:

1.  There is original jurisdiction in the Ohio Supreme Court for "extraordinary writs" like mandamus when there is no adequate remedy at law.  It is an unusual option, but that is the argument the provider plaintiffs are making here. saying there is a need for a definitive, state-wide ruling on this emergency motion.

2.  Ohio may be different in interpretation of its state due process ("due course of law") clause because it also now has a "Freedom to Choose Health Care" constitutional provision.  Ohio Const. Art. I.21.  This freedom of health care provision was passed by initiative in 2011 in response to the federal Affordable Healthcare Act as an "anti-Obamacare" action.