COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court has made a ruling regarding the state's challenge to the enforcement of Ohio's near-ban on abortions. In a recent decision, the high court dismissed the appeal, citing a change in the law. The case will now be returned to Hamilton County Common Pleas, where abortion clinics have sought to have the law thrown out following the approval of an amendment enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution.

The Ohio Supreme Court's dismissal comes after their prior agreement to review a county judge's order that had blocked the enforcement of the abortion restriction. The justices were also considering whether clinics had legal standing to challenge the law. However, they denied Republican Attorney General Dave Yost's request to conduct their own review of the constitutional right to abortion, opting to leave the arguments for a lower court.

Abortion clinics, taking advantage of the recently passed amendment, asked Judge Christian Jenkins to permanently block the abortion ban. The amendment, which was approved by Ohio voters last month, secures access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare. The ban in question was initially implemented in April 2019 by Republican Governor Mike DeWine. It prohibited most abortions after the detection of a "fetal heartbeat," which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Although the ban was briefly in effect after the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, it was subsequently put on hold in county court due to a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality under the state constitution. The state's attorney general office referred to a statement made on December 7, expressing their willingness to acknowledge the will of the people on the issue and review each part of the law for an orderly resolution of the case.

Abortion providers are now urging the lower court, which initially blocked the ban, to permanently strike it down. They cited Attorney General Yost's own legal analysis, circulated prior to the vote, which stated that the passage of the amendment would invalidate Ohio's six-week ban, as the state would no longer have the ability to restrict abortions before a fetus is viable.

With the case now back in Hamilton County Common Pleas, the future of Ohio's near-ban on abortions remains uncertain. Advocates on both sides of the issue are eagerly awaiting further developments in this ongoing legal battle.