Columbus — Today, Judge Timothy Black of the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of Ohio granted a preliminary injunction against John Kasich’s newest abortion ban.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland: “Judge Black got it right. The Down syndrome abortion ban, violates four and a half decades of legal precedent that says a woman has the unfettered right to choose whether to end a pregnancy before the point of viability. Ohio Right to Life should be ashamed of themselves because Judge Black saw through their lie that this legislation was intended to help families living with Down syndrome. It is clear to everyone that it was really designed as a political ploy to promote the gubernatorial candidacy of Attorney General Mike DeWine at the expense of women’s rights and health.”
Copeland continued: “Ohio legislators and Governor Kasich should take heed and halt their attempts to pass any further restrictions, including current legislation that would ban a particular medical procedure commonly used pre-viability. Women are perfectly able to make their own medical decisions, they don’t need political interference from Kasich and his cronies at the Statehouse.”
John Kasich signed HB 214 on December 22, 2017. It is his 20th attack on abortion rights and reproductive health care. In doing so, he ignored the clear ruling of the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana, which issued a permanent injunction on that state’s Down syndrome abortion ban on September 22, 2017.
Also in December, Rep. Nickie Antonio requested a memo from the Legislative Service Commission (download .pdf) to determine how much Ohioans should expect court battles over unconstitutional abortion restrictions to cost in tax dollars. Using Indiana as an example: LSC found: “According to the Indiana State Auditor, between 2011 and 2017, the state paid $2.8 million, or an average of $400,000 each year, to the ACLU following the group’s successful challenges to various unconstitutional state laws including laws restricting the right to an abortion.”
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