COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County Judge heard oral arguments Friday morning in a challenge to Ohio's abortion laws. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in March on behalf of abortion clinics in the state.
The ACLU wants these laws declared unconstitutional under Ohio's Reproductive Freedom Amendment voters passed in November 2023. They also want the state to stop enforcing the restrictions.
The two groups are asking Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Young to issue a preliminary injunction. He did not make a ruling on Friday.
Much of the argument in court focused on a requirement that patients have an informational medical appointment and then wait 24 hours for an abortion. The ACLU argues that abortion restrictions provide no health benefit and lack any medical justification.
"Our unrebutted evidence, our affidavits demonstrate in detail how the challenged requirements burden, penalize and interfere with patients seeking abortion by forcing them to jump through all these unnecessary hoops in order to access medical care," plaintiffs' attorney Jessie Hill argued in court.
The state also made arguments and asked the judge to dismiss this case. Assistant Attorney General Amanda Narog argued the information doctors share with patients before an abortion is medically relevant.
"Their patients are not burdened, they're not interfered with, they're not discriminated against by being asked to wait 24 hours after getting informed consent to properly contemplate and decide and give that consent before having a surgical procedure," Narog told the judge.
There is no word on when the judge will issue a ruling.