Ohio courts approved Attorney General Dave Yost’s request to dissolve injunction against the state’s heartbeat abortion law, making abortion illegal once a heartbeat is detected, usually at around six weeks.
A federal judge lifted the nearly three-year injunction on the law following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Dubbed the “Heartbeat Bill,” the law criminalizes all abortions performed after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy, or four weeks after conception.
According to the bill, patients who are seeking the procedure would not be prosecuted under the new law, but medical providers could face fifth-degree felony charges and up to one year in prison.
However, the law does have one exception. In the case to save the life of a patient- an abortion can be performed, but no exceptions for rape or incest.
Yost said that he filed an emergency motion in federal court to dissolve the injunction the moment he heard that Roe v. Wade had be struck down.
BREAKING: We filed a motion in federal court moments ago to dissolve the injunction against Ohio’s Heartbeat Law, which had been based on the the now-overruled precedents of Roe and Casey. pic.twitter.com/4TTYv8jeU2
— Attorney General Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) June 24, 2022
Today’s Supreme Court decision does not outlaw abortion, but returns it to the elected political branches of government. It never belonged in the courts. https://t.co/4pmAmFqQXu
— Attorney General Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) June 24, 2022
Additionally, there is also two pending legislations, Senate Bill 123 and House Bill 598, that would make the act of giving or receiving an abortion a felony.