Ohio judge strikes down state's 6-week abortion ban as unconstitutional

An Ohio judge issued a permanent injunction on Thursday, striking down the state's six-week abortion law as a whole while citing the state's constitutional amendment.

"Ohio voters have spoken," Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins wrote in the filing. "The Ohio Constitution now unequivocally protects the right to abortion."

"This is a momentous ruling, showing the power of Ohio's new Reproductive Freedom Amendment in practice," Jessie Hill, cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. "The six-week ban is blatantly unconstitutional and has no place in our law."

PRO-LIFE GROUPS SLAM HARRIS FOR UNCOMPROMISING ABORTION POSITION: 'CHRISTIANS ARE NOT WELCOME'

The suit was initially filed against Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood on behalf of abortion providers as a result of Ohio's 2019 law banning abortions as early as six weeks. 

The law was allowed to briefly go into effect in 2022 after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. The court then issued a temporary restraining order on the law and later extended the order for two more weeks. Following a hearing in October 2022, the court issued a preliminary injunction order that remained in effect up until the permanent injunction order was issued on Thursday. 

HARRIS REFUSES TO MAKE CONCESSIONS TO REPUBLICANS ON ANY ABORTION LEGISLATION, INCLUDING RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS