The Frostie: Ohio's Six-Week Ban Remains Blocked

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

A note to our readers: The Quickie will be taking a break for the holiday season, returning on January 3, 2023. Please enjoy this chilly edition of the Quickie–The Frostie–before our brief hiatus. 

In today’s Frostie: Ohio’s six-week ban remains blocked, VA special election could make the state an abortion battleground, VA gov budget proposal would force low-income Virginians to carry pregnancies with severe fetal diagnoses, FL gov considers even more restrictive abortion ban, and businesses thrive in states that protect abortion (duh)! 

OHIO SIX-WEEK ABORTION BAN REMAINS BLOCKED: Today, the First District Court of Appeals denied the state of Ohio’s request for the Court of Appeals to review an appeal of the preliminary injunction that has been blocking the state’s six-week abortion ban, granted by the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas on October 7. The Appeals Court sent the case back to the trial court where Planned Parenthood and its fellow plaintiffs will continue litigation to obtain a permanent injunction. With the preliminary injunction still in place, abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy remains legal in Ohio. 

“We are pleased that the appeal was correctly dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and that the case will continue before the trial court towards a final decision on the merits,” the plaintiffs said in a joint statement today. “The state will fight us every step of the way but we know that Senate Bill 23 violates the Ohio Constitution and we are confident that the law is on our side.” 

Read the ruling here. Read more about Planned Parenthood’s Ohio litigation here.  

VIRGINIA’S SPECIAL ELECTION COULD TURN THE STATE INTO AN ABORTION BATTLEGROUND: A new piece from Axios details the rising stakes for abortion rights in Virginia as the Jan. 10 special election to fill outgoing state Sen. Jen Kiggans’ seat draws nearer.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Executive Director Jamie Lockhart spoke about the high-priority state race, noting that “If we lose then, there is some risk during session that [an abortion bill] could get to the governor’s desk.” Aaron Rouse, the PPAV-endorsed candidate running for the seat, told Axios his election is critically important to ensure “we don’t roll back the hands of time for women."

While the special election won’t impact partisan control of the chambers, the seat is a must-win to minimize the power of anti-abortion state Sen. Joe Morrissey, who is also running in another high-stakes special election for Congress and faces abortion rights champion Sen. Jennifer McClellan in the Dec. 20 primary. 

Read more at Axios. 

VA GOV. BUDGET PROPOSAL WOULD FORCE LOW-INCOME VIRGINIANS TO CARRY PREGNANCIES WITH SEVERE FETAL DIAGNOSES: This week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that would prevent Medicaid-eligible Virginians from ending pregnancies with severe fetal diagnoses and would also allocate $50,000 toward implementing an abortion ban in the state. Currently, Virginia denies state funding to Medicaid-eligible pregnant people who are seeking abortion care except in cases of rape, incest, when their life is at risk, and in cases of fetal diagnoses. Gov. Youngkin’s proposal would remove fetal diagnoses from this list, forcing Virginians with low incomes to carry pregnancies fraught with suffering and denying them their fundamental right to bodily autonomy. 

“Governor Youngkin’s decision to strike this funding from Virginia’s budget is nothing short of heartless and cruel,” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Executive Director Jamie Lockhart said. “It places people who face complex and tragic circumstances surrounding pregnancy, like a fatal fetal diagnosis, into impossible situations. These situations deserve our compassion and support – not shame and funding restrictions that put necessary reproductive health care out of reach.” 

Read more from PPAV here. 

GOV. DESANTIS CONSIDERS EVEN MORE RESTRICTIVE ABORTION BAN IN FL: This week, the New York Times reported on the upcoming battle for abortion rights in Florida. Facing pressure from anti-abortion zealots, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies in the legislature are expected to propose an even more restrictive abortion ban than the state’s current law. Since July, abortion has been banned after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and a challenge to the ban brought by Florida abortion providers has lingered at the state supreme court. Anti-abortion politicians in the state may hold a trifecta of power, but abortion restrictions are extremely unpopular in the state. Between half and two-thirds of Floridians believe that abortion should remain legal in all or most cases. Moreover, Florida has one of the highest abortion rates in the country: the number of people seeking abortion care in Florida Planned Parenthood health centers has doubled since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, largely as a result of total and near-total bans in surrounding states. 

“There’s always going to be a need for abortion care,” said Laura Goodhue, the executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. “Ron DeSantis is fond of saying he’s in favor of freedom, yet he’s perfectly happy taking away people’s bodily autonomy.”

Read more at the New York Times. 

SPOILER ALERT: BUSINESSES THRIVE IN STATES THAT PROTECT ABORTION: At this point, it should be no secret: abortion bans hurt businesses, and companies in states that protect abortion access are more economically successful. New analysis from Bloomberg explains:  

• In 11 states where abortion is illegal, publicly traded companies are “less diverse, less profitable, and less productive than the US average” company, and notably below the average of companies in states that expanded abortion access. 
• States that expanded abortion access found their labor market rebound faster after the COVID-19-related economic downturn, compared to states that restricted abortion access. 
• Companies in states that expanded abortion rights reported greater earnings than states where abortion is banned.  

Read more at Bloomberg and the Washington Post.