Planned Parenthood SW Ohio Region v. Ohio Dept. of Health

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 639

Syllabus

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM AMENDMENT – SENATE BILL 27 – ABORTION – SEVERANCE: The trial court did not err in granting a judgment on the pleadings in favor of abortion providers who challenged a state law requiring fetal tissue from procedural abortions to be disposed of by cremation or interment, because Article I, Section 22 of the Ohio Constitution—the Reproductive Freedom Amendment—applies to laws regulating conduct occurring after an abortion. The trial court did not err in determining that provisions in a state law which cross-reference and give meaning to the unconstitutional requirement that fetal tissue from procedural abortion be disposed of by cremation or interment could not be severed. The trial court erred in failing to sever portions of a state law that added the terms \zygote\ and \blastocyte\ to preexisting abortion regulations from its injunction barring enforcement of the requirement that fetal tissue from procedural abortions be disposed of by cremation or interment, and the trial court's judgment is modified to sever those provisions from the permanent injunction issued by the trial court.