Ohio Supreme Court races will determine abortion laws
Three spots on the highest judicial body will determine how existing abortion bans and restrictions are interpreted under a constitutional amendment.
Much rides on the state supreme court race in Ohio, as the fate of the state’s fetal heartbeat law hangs in the balance.
Three spots on the court are at stake in this election. The most considerable difficulty facing the justices is who has legal standing, or the right to file a lawsuit, against abortion laws created by the state legislature.
Two lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions arose in Ohio in the wake of the constitutional amendment that passed in November.
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood have taken a stand, announcing their intent to file a complaint questioning the 24-hour waiting period currently enforced in the state. Another lawsuit challenged a six-week ban implemented following the Dobbs decision.
This past week, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins struck down the fetal heartbeat law after interpreting it in light of the constitutional amendment that passed last year. Ohio Attorney General had sought to maintain the law despite that.
Currently, the plaintiffs in the case are abortion providers. Entin thinks the attorney general will likely argue on appeal that some laws related to the heartbeat law might still be valid. But he believes it is more likely they will claim that the plaintiff doesn't have standing and that the only people who could challenge abortion regulations are pregnant patients.
Jonathan Entin, a former professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, spoke to me about how this will play out. If the Ohio Supreme Court takes a narrow view of standing to challenge abortion laws, it will make it more difficult because lawyers will need a pregnant woman as the plaintiff.
“That's going to be a bigger challenge,” Entin said. “I don't mean that you can't find such plaintiffs. I just mean to say, as I said, most folks who are pregnant are not eager to become parties to a lawsuit. They have plenty of other things to be thinking about.”
Incumbent Democratic Justice Michael P. Donnelly goes against Republican Judge Megan Shanahan. Incumbent Republican Justice Joseph Deters faces incumbent Democratic Justice Melody Stewart. Democratic candidate Lisa Forbes and Republican candidate Dan Hawkins are in the third race.
In a state that has trended Republican, except for last year’s ballot initiative, there’s a good chance the Democratic candidates could lose. If it does, all of this will play out. It foreshadows what will happen in other states that may have conservative supreme courts. I’ll report on this next week during election night one we know the results.