Republican lawmakers move to strip Ohio courts of jurisdiction over abortion amendment

Watch a previous report on how Issue 1 could impact state abortion laws in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Republican lawmakers are following through on their promise to try to stop the implementation of Ohio’s newly enshrined abortion rights amendment.

House Bill 371 would strip Ohio’s courts of jurisdiction over any case related to the constitutional provision establishing the right to abortion, passed by voters as Issue 1 this past November. Introduced by Republican Reps. Bill Dean (Xenia) and Jennifer Gross (West Chester), the “Issue 1 Implementation Act” would immediately dismiss lawsuits seeking to enforce the abortion rights amendment, vacate previous decisions related to it and allow for the impeachment of judges who accept such cases.

House Speaker Jason Stephens previously dismissed the idea when Dean, Gross and two other Republicans vowed to introduce such legislation in November. But if passed, HB371 would throw implementation of Issue 1 into disarray – and would put the state’s six-week abortion ban back on the table.

The bill, introduced Wednesday, dictates that the General Assembly shall have sole authority over the rollout of Issue 1 – now Article I, Section 22 of the Ohio Constitution. Passed by nearly 57% of voters in November, the amendment prohibits bans on abortion before fetal viability, as determined by an individual’s physician, and requires any restrictions after viability to promote the life and health of the pregnant person in the least restrictive way. It also establishes the right to make decisions about miscarriage care, fertility treatments, contraception and pregnancy.

Issue 1’s passage has all but cemented the fate of Ohio’s “Heartbeat Law,” which bans abortions at about six weeks gestation – far before fetuses become viable at about 22-24 weeks. In mid-December, shortly after Issue 1 went into effect, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the state’s appeal of a block on the ban, citing the “change of law.”

“Issue 1 doesn't repeal a single Ohio law, in fact, it doesn't even mention one,” Dean said in November, when some Republican lawmakers announced their intent to introduce a bill like HB371. “The amendment’s language is dangerously vague and unconstrained, and can be weaponized to attack parental rights or defend rapists, pedophiles, and human traffickers.” 

A Hamilton County judge will decide whether to strike down the six-week ban as violating the state constitution, but HB371 would render that moot. It would also put Article I, Section 22 of the Ohio Constitution in a category of its own, making it the only constitutional provision that the courts of common pleas, appellate courts and the state’s high court would be barred from hearing cases about.

While the six-week ban nears its probable demise, there are more than 30 other laws restricting access to abortion in the state. Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill to repeal some of those restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period and stringent facility requirements for providers, but in a General Assembly controlled by a Republican supermajority, such a proposal is unlikely to garner significant support.