COLUMBUS — While abortion-rights advocates say a Supreme Court ruling closing northwest Ohio’s last abortion clinic is a blow to women’s health, a leading anti-abortion group says the decision was the corrdct one
An abortion-rights group says an Ohio Supreme Court ruling upholding a state order to shutter the last abortion clinic in northwest Ohio punishes women for deciding to end their pregnancies.
The president of the Ohio Right to Life anti-abortion group, however, said in a statement Tuesday that the court “got it right.” Mike Gonidakis called the rulings affirmation that “abortion should not be advanced at the expense of women’s health and safety.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said in a statement Tuesday she is “gravely concerned” about the impact the ruling will have on women in that part of the state. She says the decision against Capital Care of Toledo pushes abortion out of reach for them.
The court on Tuesday upheld the order to shutter Capital Care of Toledo. A message was left for Capital Care’s attorney.
The court also ruled the Preterm of Cleveland abortion clinic lacks legal standing to sue over abortion-related restrictions put in Ohio’s 2013 budget bill. An attorney for Preterm says women across Ohio will suffer.
The rulings come as Ohio has seen clinic closures across the state, as well as a decline in abortion procedures.
The case involved a state constitutional question and can’t be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Preterm is considering its options, an attorney for the clinic said.