Ohio law banning partial-birth abortion upheld

CINCINNATI — A federal appeals court based in Cincinnati ruled Dec. 17 that an Ohio law banning partial-birth abortion is constitutional. In a 2–1 decision, a panel for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s decision and ruled that the law is constitutional because it contains an exception for the health of the mother and because it specifically excludes other abortion procedures. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they would appeal.

While the decision was unrelated to several lawsuits filed in November against the federal partial-birth abortion law, it does mean that the U.S. Supreme Court could once again be tackling the abortion issue sooner than many thought. The decision can be appealed to either the high court or the full circuit court.

The Ohio law is different from the federal law because it contains a health exception — which the U.S. Supreme Court has said is necessary. Pro-lifers argue that a health exception renders any abortion law meaningless and would be abused.

But the Ohio health exception is narrowly defined. It prohibits partial-birth abortion unless the mother’s life or health is “endangered by a serious risk.” The law defines a “serious risk” as a “medically diagnosed condition that so complicates the pregnancy of the woman as to directly or indirectly cause the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”