Statehouse News Bureau

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Despite Ohio Supreme Court Decision, Dayton's Only Abortion Clinic Will Remain Open For Now

By Jo Ingles

Published August 21, 2019 at 9:11 PM EDT

Outside of the Ohio Supreme Court [Dan Konik] — Outside of the Ohio Supreme Court

The Ohio Supreme Court has refused to take up an appeal from Dayton’s only abortion clinic that would pave the way for it to keep operating. The Women’s Medical Center doesn’t have a transfer agreement with a local hospital as required by state law. But despite the ruling, the clinic will remain open for now.

Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis says the state’s high court got it right when it allowed a lower court ruling against the Women's Med Center of Dayton to stand.

“Today is a day of reckoning for them and it’s just a matter of time before they are going to have to close their doors," Gonidakis says.

Jennifer Branch, an attorney for Gerhardstein and Branch, represents the Dayton center. And she says it’s not closing.

“The clinic is still open and will remain open. We still have further appeals pending," Branch says.

Branch says federal courts in other states with similar cases have allowed clinics to remain open. She says shutting down Dayton’s only abortion clinic would violate the terms of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.