ACLU seeks to eliminate another Ohio requirement before patients can receive an abortion

A new lawsuit seeks to block Ohio’s requirement that patients wait 24 hours before obtaining an abortion.

The legal challenge, filed Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, is the first new lawsuit since Ohio voters enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution in November. Other laws were already being challenged, such as the state’s ban on most abortions.

The new lawsuit challenges state laws that require doctors to inform patients of the medical risks of abortions, the probable gestational age of the embryo or fetus and the medical risks associated with carrying the pregnancy to term during an in-person visit at least 24 hours before the abortions via medicine or a procedure.

Doctors must also provide state-produced literature about family planning and alternatives to abortions. Patients facing an emergency procedure can forgo these requirements, but those scenarios are rare.

If doctors don’t comply, the state medical board can revoke their license and face lawsuits from patients.

More: OnPolitics: Supreme Court set to take on major abortion rights case

The lawsuit also seeks to block a requirement for doctors to test for embryonic or fetal cardiac activity. If doctors don’t perform that test, they could face a fifth-degree felony.

“These laws are now in clear violation of the newly amended Ohio Constitution, which enshrines the explicit and fundamental right to abortion and forbids the state from burdening, prohibiting, penalizing, and interfering with access to abortion, and discriminating against abortion patients and providers,” attorney Jessie Hill said in a statement.

These laws lead to delays, more expensive visits and logistical barriers, according to the lawsuit. They also single out abortion compared to other medical procedures.

“Mainstream medical consensus dictates that the best medical practice is to provide patients with timely abortion care without any unnecessary delays and that mandatory waiting periods for abortion do not improve patient health,” according to the complaint.

More: Will abortion advocates continue their winning streak? Here's which states will be key.

Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost would defend the common-sense law.

“These health and safety regulations protect women,” Gonidakis said. “It is unconscionable that the abortion industry thinks that women’s health standards should be callously disregarded in order to promote a political agenda.”

In the lawsuit, attorneys contend that “legal abortion is extremely safe” and leads to fewer health complications than carrying a pregnancy to term.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the law firm Covington & Burling LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of Preterm-Cleveland, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation, Northeast Ohio Women’s Center and Dr. Catherine Romanos.

Motion for Preliminary Injunction by Jessie Balmert on Scribd

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ACLU sues Ohio over 24-hour waiting period for abortions