Abortion providers seek to permanently block Ohio ‘heartbeat’ law

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and abortion clinic operators returned to court Tuesday in an attempt to permanently block Ohio's "heartbeat" abortion ban.

It continues a legal fight that abortion opponents hope ends up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year signed into law a bill that would outlaw abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, generally around the sixth week of pregnancy -- and sometimes before a woman knows she is pregnant.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Barrett of Cincinnati issued a preliminary injunction forbidding the law from taking effect in July, saying those challenging it "are certain to succeed on the merits of their claim that (the law) is unconstitutional on its face."

The U.S. Supreme Court in its 1973 Roe v Wade opinion ruled that a woman has a right to abortion and that the government can't place an undue burden on that right.

"The law is well-settled that women possess a fundamental constitutional right of access to abortion. There is no question that this abortion ban must be permanently blocked," Freda Levenson, legal director for ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement Tuesday.

However, with a new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, abortion foes are hoping that it will overturn Roe v Wade. Toward that end, a number of states have passed laws -- including near-total abortion bans -- aimed at getting the issue before the high court. DeWine's spokesman on Tuesday again made clear the intent of the Ohio law.

"The governor has long believed this issue will ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court," DeWine Press Secretary Dan Tierney said in an email.

Planned Parenthood, which provides reproductive health services other than abortion, has been fighting conservatives on many fronts. On Monday, it announced that it would stop taking $60 million a year in federal funds to provide poor women with birth control rather than accept a Trump administration directive that it could not make referrals to doctors who can perform abortions.

The group's Ohio leader said Tuesday that it also would fight attempts in the Buckeye State to erode women's access to abortion.

"Planned Parenthood is proud to stand with other health care providers in our unwavering commitment to protect the right for all Ohioans to access abortion care," Iris E. Harvey, president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said in a statement. "We expect that the court will continue to uphold a person's constitutional right to make a personal medical decision in collaboration with their physician, their family, and their spiritual advisor -- without the interference of lawmakers."

A federal judge also has temporarily blocked a state law, signed by former Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, outlawing the dilation and evacuation method of abortion, the most common second-trimester procedure.

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