Ohio AG files appeal on judge's ruling that state abortion law is unconstitutional 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is pushing for an appeals court to reverse a judge's ruling that all portions of a state law restricting abortions are unconstitutional.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian Jenkins ruled in October that Ohio’s “Heartbeat Act” violates state law following the passage of Issue 1 last year, which enshrined the right of Ohioans to make decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and pregnancy.

The Heartbeat Act had banned abortion once cardiac activity was detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Yost had acknowledged in court filings that Issue 1 rendered the six-week ban unconstitutional, but argued the court should let other portions of the law, including a requirement for doctors to check for and inform patients of a heartbeat, to remain. 

Last week, Yost filed an appeal for Jenkin's ruling with the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which claimed that the plaintiffs who challenged the law -- state abortion clinics -- did not directly address whether other provisions outside of the ban, standing on their own, were invalidated by the amendment. The appeal points out the the Ohio Supreme Court has found that unconstitutional language in a statue can be removed to make the law constitutional.

The appeal comes after years of proceedings over the law. Legal battles began when a federal court blocked the enforcement of the heartbeat law three months after it passed back in 2019, which changed after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June of 2022. 

Yost successfully petitioned the federal court to dissolve the injunction, and though the law saw challenges from Ohio abortion clinics, was upheld by the state supreme court. The “Heartbeat Law” took effect from June 24, 2022, through Sept. 14, 2022, when Jenkins put the law on hold again in response to a lawsuit by Ohio abortion clinics.