Lawsuit filed to stop Ohio abortion ban after 1st heartbeat
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics sued Wednesday to thwart Ohio’s latest and most restrictive abortion law, an anticipated move that’s part of a national anti-abortion strategy to challenge the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
The lawsuit is similar to legal fights in several southern states that recently passed similar, or more aggressive, legislation to push the now-conservative-leaning Supreme Court to take up abortion and overturn the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.
Wednesday’s lawsuit filed in federal court in Columbus by groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights attorneys says banning abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat is unconstitutional and would prohibit nearly all abortions in Ohio, or as many as nine of every ten.
A detectable heartbeat can come as early as five or six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. The Ohio law makes no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine last month.
https://www.apnews.com/dbfc2cd0b4864893a2c5dfb1d858e032
