Ohio clinics want heartbeat abortion ban permanently blocked

COLUMBUS (AP) — Lawyers for abortion clinics challenging an Ohio law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected have asked a federal court to block the measure permanently.

In a filing Tuesday in federal court in Columbus, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and others said a July 3 decision by Judge Michael Barrett temporarily blocking the so-called heartbeat bill should continue indefinitely.

Judge Barrett opined that abortion providers’ constitutional challenge was “certain to succeed.”

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the legislation in April, joining a national push by mostly Republican-led states aimed at sparking the legal challenge that will overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion.

Ohio didn’t challenge Judge Barrett’s injunction, and the deadline to do so has passed.