Ohio sued over 24-hour abortion waiting period

Romanos could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

“The challenged abortion restrictions unnecessarily require the overwhelming majority of patients to make two trips to a health center and, in practice, often force patients to wait much longer than 24 hours to receive an abortion. This delays — and in some cases, completely prevents — patients from receiving an abortion,” the statement reads.

The challengers argue that the laws now stand in stark contrast with the Ohio Constitution following November’s vote to enshrine abortion access and forbid the state from interfering with one’s reproductive decisions. They ask for the court to file a preliminary injunction on the laws and eventually declare them unconstitutional.

“Whatever a patient’s reasons, accessing abortion is essential to their autonomy, dignity, and ability to care for themselves and their families,” said Jessie Hill, an abortion-rights attorney working with the ACLU.

Since Ohioans decisively passed Issue 1 protecting access to abortions, onlookers, including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, have been expecting an onslaught of constitutional challenges against a slate of Ohio’s laws regarding abortion, which has heightened the tensions in the three Supreme Court of Ohio races this November. If Democrats win all three, they can take control of the seven-member bench; if Republicans win all three, the party gains near-unanimous control of state’s top court.

Yost, who is tasked with defending Ohio’s laws in court, was contacted for comment but had not gotten back to this newspaper by the time of publication.

This is a developing story. This article may be updated as more information becomes available.