OWA Files Amicus Brief
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Today, Ohio Women’s Alliance filed an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit brought by abortion providers, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU Ohio, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
The Ohio Women’s Alliance (OWA) Member Assistance Program provides wrap-around support in the form of transportation, lodging, referrals, and more to Ohioans who face logistical barriers to accessing abortion care. OWA has served over 800 clients since launching the program in 2023, all of whom face double the barriers because of the 24-hour waiting period. The lawsuit challenges the requirement that patients attend two appointments at least 24 hours apart to obtain care so they can receive medically unnecessary state-mandated information about alternatives to abortion. Because of the shortage of clinics in Ohio, patients often have to wait much longer than 24 hours, which sometimes puts patients past Ohio’s legal time limit to receive care.
“We file this amicus brief today on behalf of every Ohioan who has faced unnecessary hardship because of restrictions on the care that is promised to us in the Ohio Constitution through the Reproductive Freedom Amendment,” says Ohio Women’s Alliance Founder & Executive Director Rhiannon Carnes. “We launched the Member Assistance Program to make sure our community has the critical support they need as they access essential reproductive healthcare. The 24-hour waiting period, coupled with the shortage of clinic appointments, is the result of ongoing unconstitutional attacks on reproductive freedom, making it impossible for every Ohioan to get the care they need. We are fighting for an Ohio where all people can thrive, and lifting restrictions like this is crucial to a brighter future where our bodily autonomy is respected, not discarded.”
The brief includes several patient, volunteer, and staff testimonies that speak to the undue burden of the waiting period on patients, the vast majority of whom do not need additional time to make their decision. “I recently had treatment at Preterm in Cleveland OH (close to 5 hours away from home),” says one patient. “I discovered when making the appointment that I had to have two visits because of a 24-hour policy. When I heard this news, I was immediately sent into a panic. An already difficult situation escalated quickly with that news. I did not understand the purpose of it, what it changed looking back, or how it helped. All I knew is with three children already and a full-time job, I didn't see how getting the medical procedure I needed was possible."
Noa is a nurse and Member Assistance Program Patient Advocate who often drives patients to and from their appointments. She says, "If individuals seeking abortion want to spend a few days thinking about whether or not this procedure is the right decision for them, they can always do that, whether or not the law forces them to. But for individuals who know what they want already, the current law instead implies that their decision-making capacity is inadequate and they need help from the state to make the right decision."
Both the lawsuit and the amicus brief argue that Ohio’s 24-hour waiting period, forced second clinic visit, and State-mandated informational and biased counseling requirements violate the stringent new review standard established in the Reproductive Freedom Amendment, which 57% of Ohioans voted to pass in November.
The lawsuit was filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas 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. The court will hear arguments in the case on Friday, August 16.
Ohio Women’s Alliance urges the court to “act swiftly to dismantle these dangerous and unconstitutional barriers” by issuing preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to stop the state from enforcing these restrictions, emphasizing that the waiting period and forced State-mandated information serve no valid medical purpose, but only create additional obstacles to care for the most vulnerable present and future Ohioans whose lives and well-being are hanging in the balance. Click to read the full amicus brief.
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Ohio Women’s Alliance is a power-building Reproductive Justice organization providing programming, resources, and education for women, femmes, gender-expansive folks, and youth throughout Ohio. Rooted in the foundations of Reproductive Justice, our mission is to transform Ohio into a state where all people can truly thrive through access to safe communities, equitable education, holistic health care and wellness, inclusive and representative democracy, and economic prosperity.