C COLUMBUS – A federal judge has temporarily blocked state officials from taking legal action against Planned Parenthood to enforce a rule governing the disposal of fetal tissue.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers at the Statehouse vowed to take action to shore up the state’s regulations governing the disposal of aborted fetuses and fetal tissue.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. granted a 28-day temporary restraining order late Monday afternoon order after a short hearing that followed a day-long series of private talks between attorneys for DeWine and Planned Parenthood that failed to resolve the dispute.
The judge said Planned Parenthood could suffer “irreparable harm” if the state filed a lawsuit, and the organization stands “some likelihood of success” in prevailing in a court battle.
It is an unusual, but not unprecedented scenario when a federal court blocks proposed action in a state court. But Sargus said a federal judge has “unmistakable” authority to block a public official from a potential violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The issue arose after DeWine released an investigative report Friday concluding that while Ohio Planned Parenthood clinics did not sell fetal tissue, its facilities in Columbus and Cincinnati hired contractors who “steam-cooked” remains and took them to a Kentucky landfill. He vowed to go to common pleas court seeking an injunction to stop the practice.
Planned Parenthood calls the report “inflammatory,” says it follows Ohio law and threw up a roadblock by filing a federal lawsuit Sunday seeking a temporary restraining order blocking DeWine. The group claims the state’s health department changed the interpretation of the disposal rule without notice and then unfairly targeted its affiliates in Columbus, Cincinnati and Bedford Heights that provide abortions.
Sargus scheduled a Jan. 5 hearing in which witnesses for both sides likely will testify. In the meantime, the three clinics will be able to continue the practice of contracting with medical disposal firms to handle aborted fetal remains.
Four House Republican lawmakers held a press conference to announce legislation they are planning to introduce after the first of the year that would address some of the findings of DeWine’s investigation.
A bill sponsored by Reps. Barbara Sears (R-Monclova Twp.) and Tim Ginter (R-Salem) would require the Department of Health to develop more stringent and specific rules, particularly by defining the methods for disposition of fetal tissue.
Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield) are introducing a measure that will allow a pregnant woman who has an abortion to choose the method by which the aborted infant will be disposed, burial or cremation.