Abortion clinic drops lawsuit against Ohio agency

CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati’s last abortion clinic has announced it will remain open and drop its lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Health after the state approved the clinic’s request for a variance of a law preventing it from having a patient-transfer agreement with a public hospital.

The federal lawsuit was filed Nov. 11 by Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region. The clinic has said it hasn’t been able to get an agreement with another hospital after the state last year banned abortion providers from making such agreements with public hospitals, ending a partnership the clinic had with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

In a statement Thursday, the clinic said the state had approved its request for a variance, allowing for agreements with several doctors who would accept and care for Planned Parenthood patients in emergencies.