COLUMBUS – A federal judge in Ohio has found a statewide ban on elective surgeries is unconstitutional if it prevents abortions from being performed.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost earlier this month ordered the closing of abortion clinics that remained opened after the Ohio Department of Health issued the ban to preserve health care resources ahead of a potential surge in coronaviruus cases.
Abortion providers in Ohio, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Ohio lawyers, filed an emergency lawsuit Monday asking that clinics remain open “to provide time-sensitive, essential abortion care to patients.”
Federal judges in Texas and Alabama have also temporarily blocked efforts to ban abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. The rulings Monday were handed down as providers in Iowa and Oklahoma filed lawsuits to stop states from trying to close their doors during the outbreak.
Their aim is to stop state officials from prohibiting abortions as part of temporary policy changes related to the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Texas said the “Supreme Court has spoken clearly” on a women’s right to abortion.