Ohio judge again blocks abortion law that threatened clinics

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge has blocked early enforcement of an Ohio abortion restriction that included additional licensing requirements challenged by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood as unnecessarily onerous. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Alison Hatheway’s ruling Friday blocked restrictions imposed on two southwest Ohio clinics by the Ohio Department of Health that came before June 21, which would have been 90 days after the law’s effective date. Hatheway temporarily blocked the law on March 2. Provisions tacked onto a so-called “born alive” abortion bill prevented the clinics from contracting with backup physicians who teach at or contract with public medical schools.