Ohio abortion clinic can stay open pending appeal

CINCINNATI (AP) — A judge will allow a suburban Cincinnati abortion clinic to remain open as it appeals a state closure order.

Hamilton County Judge Jerome Metz’s decision today follows arguments from the Lebanon Road Surgery Center of Sharonville and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

The Ohio Department of Health ordered the closure after agency Director Theodore Wymyslo revoked the facility’s license, questioning whether the clinic had followed rules to provide back-up care.

Clinic attorneys attribute the closure order to political pressure. They say the clinic’s patients always have been safely cared for and that its medical director never broke any rules.

Under the state’s order, the clinic would have had to close Thursday.

It will now be allowed to remain open as it appeals the state’s order to close.