by Margaret Mary Olohan
A judge temporarily blocked an Ohio bill that bans abortions after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected.
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday temporarily preventing the heartbeat bill from going into effect, according to Cleveland.com.
The heartbeat bill, S.B. 23, was originally signed by Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on April 11 and banned abortions after detection of a baby’s heartbeat. Physicians could face fines of up to $20,000 in fines if they violate the law.
Barrett said in the ruling that the heartbeat bill placed an undue burden on women and their right to abortion.
“This Court concludes that S.B. 23 places an ‘undue burden’ on a woman’s right to choose a pre-viability abortion, and, under Casey, Plaintiffs are certain to succeed on the merits of their claim,” Barrett wrote, according to Cleveland.com, referencing the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The ruling temporarily halts the bill pending further court rulings.
“All Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of this Order, are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing or complying with S.B. 23 pending further Order of this Court,” the ruling says.
Pro-abortion advocates applauded the news Wednesday, calling the ban “extreme” and “dangerous.”
BREAKING: A federal judge just BLOCKED Ohio’s extreme ban on abortion from taking effect! The dangerous law would have criminalized abortion before many people even know they’re pregnant. #StopTheBans https://t.co/2bBzg7SyM0
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproforall) July 3, 2019
UPDATE: A federal judge just blocked Ohio’s abortion ban from taking effect while our case goes forward to stop it once and for all. https://t.co/sf5ZzVNLKK
— ACLU (@ACLU) July 3, 2019
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Ohio Abortion Protests” by Becker1999. CC BY 2.0.
