Yesterday, an Ohio court moved to temporarily block the latest in a long series of cruel abortion bans in Ohio. The law would ban a safe and medically sound procedure for abortions later in pregnancy. Our colleagues at other Ohio abortion clinics are challenging this law in court, and a judge has temporarily blocked the law from going into effect while the case proceeds through the judicial system.
If this law had gone into effect today, Preterm would have been forced to limit the care we could provide to only providing abortion care through 17 weeks of pregnancy.
We are still open and still seeing patients through 21 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy—the legal limit in Ohio.
But we’re not in the clear yet.
The judge has given two weeks for abortion providers to present compelling evidence of the burden this law would pose to women and people in Ohio. And politicians at the Statehouse are still fast-tracking an even harsher bill that would ban abortion at 6 weeks, before most people even know they’re pregnant. This would effectively outlaw all abortions in Ohio.
You can support the patients who can still legally access abortion here in Ohio by
donating to Preterm
today.
Nearly 400 people a year come to Preterm for abortion care later in pregnancy. Often, the most marginalized among us need abortion later in pregnancy due to the complex situations they are navigating in their lives: young people, people of color, transgender people, people in poverty, people with disabilities, and people of varying immigration status. These are the people we should all be working hardest to support and uplift.
We are grateful that the court has blocked this dangerous law and taken the opportunity to learn more about the devastating impact it would have on Ohioans.
While we continue to strategize with our lawyers, we want our patients and anyone who needs an abortion in Ohio to know that we trust you, value your life, and want to help you do what you decide is best for your life and future.
Preterm will continue to provide the best abortion care legally allowable in Ohio, and we will never stop fighting to keep our doors open to you.
