The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and some Ohio attorneys have filed an emergency lawsuit against the state.
The lawsuit says Ohio's abortion clinics provide time-sensitive, essential abortion care to patients and asks a federal court to provide a restraining order to prevent the state from taking action against their facilities.
“We have been unable to get assurances from the Ohio Department of Health that what we are doing is in compliance with the policy and we are concerned about the lack of clarity," Hill says.
Hill explains abortion clinics statewide have been trying to comply with what appears to be the goal behind the order as much as possible.
“We have taken measures to both reduce our use of protective equipment which was at the heart of that policy and also have taken steps to encourage, for example, patients who are eligible for medication abortions to use medication instead of surgery," Hill says.
Just a little more than a week ago, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told the clinics to shut down. And during the past few days, abortion providers say the Ohio Department of Health has been threatening access to abortion. Attorney Jessie Hill says the state's order is somewhat vague.
This is a breaking news story. We will be updating this story as more information becomes available.
