Preterm-Cleveland v. Yost
Plaintiffs claimed that the state’s six-week abortion ban violates the state constitution’s 1) fundamental right of individual liberty as guaranteed in the inalienable rights clause and Health Care Freedom Amendment (Art. I, §§ 1, 16, 21), 2) guarantee of equal protection (Art. I, § 2), and 3) guarantee of due process — the law is insufficiently clear (Art. I, § 16). A trial court preliminarily blocked the ban. An intermediate appeals court rejected the Defendants’ appeal of the trial court’s order. The Ohio Supreme Court agreed to hear the state’s appeal limited to the questions of whether the appeal was premature, and whether the challengers have standing. After voters adopted an amendment to the constitution protecting abortion access, the court dismissed the appeal due to the change in law.
The plaintiffs subsequently amended their complaint to add a claim under the amendment. After the state conceded the six-week ban violated the amendment, the court enjoined that ban and most of the other provisions in the law. An intermediate appellate court reversed the injunction against the other provisions, finding the lower court had erred in assessing their substantive constitutionality even though they were not challenged by the plaintiffs. The appellate court remanded for the trial court to perform the proper severability analysis.
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