An Ohio law that bans a third-trimester abortion procedure is constitutionally acceptable and the state can enforce it, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to reverse a lower court’s ruling against the law, which had been challenged before it could take effect in August 2000.
U.S. District Judge Walter Rice of Dayton ruled in 2001 that Ohio’s law was unconstitutional because it wouldn’t allow the procedure, called partial-birth abortion by opponents, to be used when it is safer for a patient than other alternatives.
Abortion provider Dr. Martin Haskell, who sued three years ago to challenge Ohio’s law, will appeal Wednesday’s ruling, said his lawyer, Alphonse Gerhardstein. Haskell hadn’t decided whether to ask the full appeals court to reconsider the case or ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review it.
