Ohio bishops call judge’s blocking abortion waiting period ‘callous disregard for women’

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 27, 2024 / 18:27 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Conference of Ohio has said a court’s temporary elimination of a 24-hour waiting period for abortion shows a “callous disregard” for women considering abortion.

This comes after an Aug. 23 ruling by Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Young temporarily blocked a state law requiring a woman be given informational materials on abortion, undergo two visits with a physician, and wait 24 hours before obtaining an abortion.

The doctor visits and 24-hour waiting period are designed to both allow the woman time to consider her decision as well as to determine the gestational age of the unborn child.

In his ruling, Young said the 24-hour waiting period violates the Ohio Constitution, citing the 2023 state constitutional amendment guaranteeing a “right to abortion.” The amendment, known as Issue 1, was approved by 57% of the state’s voters last November. 

As a result of the amendment passing, Ohio’s six-week “heartbeat” law was invalidated. Abortion is currently legal in Ohio up to 20 weeks of pregnancy or later if the mother’s life is determined to be in danger. 

Young said that certain aspects of the law present an “irreparable harm” to those seeking the constitutional right to abortion and “fail under the amendment because there is no evidence or support to find that they are the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.”

Because of this, Young ruled to temporarily block the law while a challenge brought by a Cleveland-based abortion group called Preterm and several other pro-abortion groups works its way through the courts.

In response, Brian Hickey, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, issued a statement saying “the decision to grant a preliminary injunction for Ohio’s 24-hour waiting law shows a callous disregard for the seriousness of a woman’s situation who is considering an abortion.”

Hickey asserted that “most abortions” are “unwanted or coerced” and that this decision would only worsen the situation.

“With this decision, women will be pressured into having an abortion against their will and without opportunities for coercion screening. It also cheats a woman in need of the opportunity to learn about the people available to accompany her and resources to assist her during her pregnancy and after the birth of her child,” he said.

The Ohio bishops were staunchly opposed to the abortion amendment before voters last year. After the amendment’s passage, the bishops said it was a “tragic day for women, children, and families in Ohio” and warned it would present new obstacles to the protection of life.

Despite this, Hickey said this week that “the Catholic Church throughout Ohio remains committed to providing the care and support pregnant women in need fear they will lack if they choose life.”