A federal judge ruled Thursday that Ohio cannot enforce all of a law the Republican-controlled legislature passed that banned an abortion method commonly used during a woman’s second trimester.
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati listed several portions of a law banning dilation and evacuation, which then-Gov. John Kasich signed in December, that he said could not be enforced while a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood is litigated. He did not fully block the implementation of the law, however.
The law makes it a fourth-degree felony to perform the procedure, commonly known as D&E, and carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison. It says the procedure, which it deems a “dismemberment abortion,” can only be done if the doctor first causes “fetal demise” or if the mother’s life is at serious risk.
Barrett’s ruling stems from a lawsuit Planned Parenthood and others filed in February.
Planned Parenthood — which has abortion clinics in Bedford Heights, Columbus and Cincinnati — said D&E is the safest and most common method of abortion after about 15 weeks of pregnancy. During the procedure, the woman’s cervix is dilated and the fetus and other tissue are removed with surgical instruments and suction.
Barrett, a George W. Bush appointee, noted that D&E is the only outpatient abortion procedure available to Ohio women whose pregnancies are at 15 weeks or more.
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