Ohio attorney general appeals ruling striking down statewide abortion ban

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s attorney general will appeal a ruling that struck down the most far-reaching of the state’s laws restricting abortion.

A county judge in October determined that last year’s voter-approved amendment enshrining reproductive rights effectively made the so-called heartbeat law unconstitutional. The law banning most abortions once cardiac activity is detected — as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant — had been paused pending the challenge.

Republican Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday filed a notice of appeal with the court. His office said there are provisions in the law that aren’t addressed in the constitutional amendment.

“It is up to the courts to determine how conflicts between those two documents are resolved,” said Bethany McCorkle, a spokesperson for Yost.

Yost acknowledged in earlier court filings that the amendment rendered the Ohio ban unconstitutional, but sought to maintain other elements of the 2019 law, including certain notification and reporting provisions.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins said in his ruling that retaining those provisions would have subjected doctors who perform abortions to felony criminal charges, fines, license suspensions or revocations, and civil claims of wrongful death — and required patients to make two in-person visits to their provider, wait 24 hours for the procedure and have their abortion recorded and reported.