Ohio judge strikes down last remaining rules of state's 'heartbeat law'
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAA Cincinnati judge has tossed out the last remaining requirements of Ohio's "heartbeat law," ruling that doctors are not legally required to ask patients why they are seeking abortions or to test for fetal cardiac activity.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins published his decision late Thursday. He concluded that those requirements must fall along with the law's ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, which Ohio voters overturned in 2023 when they approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing access to abortion.
The judge wrote that the requirements, which carried potential criminal and civil penalties for doctors who did not follow them, are unconstitutional because they inhibit access to abortion in violation of the amendment voters approved three years ago.
"These measures were passed alongside the six-week ban to make it difficult, or impossible, to obtain abortion care in Ohio by placing providers at risk of criminal prosecution as well as professional and financial ruin," Jenkins wrote.
The ruling is a setback for former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who had argued that the provisions could stand even though the six-week ban itself could no longer be enforced. In their legal brief, Yost's attorneys wrote: "The amendment is a shield against governmental intrusion, not a sword to dismantle the entire regulatory infrastructure governing aspects of medical practice that intersect with abortion care."
A spokesman for Attorney General Andy Wilson, who took over when Yost left office in June, said the office is reviewing Jenkins' decision and will soon decide next steps, which could include an appeal.
In his ruling, Jenkins agreed that the state could not keep parts of the heartbeat law after losing the ban. Doctors who failed to follow the provisions could have faced discipline before the state medical board, criminal charges and fines up to $20,000 — threats Jenkins concluded would likely infringe on the right to abortion guaranteed under the constitutional amendment.
Jenkins had previously ruled that the provisions could not stand, but that ruling was overturned when an appeals court concluded he had not properly considered whether each provision could legally stand on its own. His new decision addresses that question and again rejects the provisions.
The heartbeat law was the culmination of decades of work by anti-abortion activists. It was held up by court fights until a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down Roe v. Wade, the federal constitutional protection of abortion rights. One year later, Ohio voters approved the Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment, which guaranteed access to abortion until fetal viability.
Sources: The Cincinnati Enquirer (Oct 30, 2026); Bloomberg Law (Oct 30, 2026).
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