Abortion providers challenge Ohio's 24-hour waiting requirement, other restrictions

View a previous report from when Ohio voters established the right to an abortion in the November 2023 general election in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio abortion providers are challenging the state's 24-hour waiting requirement for abortions as violating the constitutional right to abortion care.

In a lawsuit filed against Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday, a coalition of abortion clinics, backed by the ACLU and ACLU of Ohio, argue a suite of abortion restrictions unnecessarily burden people seeking abortions, in many cases delaying their care. The providers are asking the Franklin County court to pause the 24-hour waiting requirement between first seeing a provider and undergoing an abortion, the required review of state-provided fetal development brochures, and the required testing for fetal cardiac activity, among other restrictions.

The suit contends that such restrictions violate the recently-enshrined constitutional right to abortion passed by voters in November. The constitutional amendment prohibits bans on abortion before fetal viability, and any restrictions thereafter must serve to promote the health and safety of the pregnant person -- as accepted by the medical community.

But, as Dr. Adarsh Krishen, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said in an interview in early March, many of Ohio's abortion restrictions go beyond what the medical community accepts as necessary, including ultrasounds to confirm gestational age, restrictions on abortion pill prescriptions and the 24-hour, two-appointment waiting requirement. They also diverge from most other regulations on health care in the state.

“This filing is just the first step toward making the will of Ohioans a reality after they overwhelmingly voted in support of Issue 1," Krishen said in a statement. "Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio is committed to ensuring Ohioans can access high-quality, patient-centered reproductive health care including abortion. That means we must also reduce the barriers that prevent people from accessing care."

Read the complaint and motion for preliminary injunction below.