Good News (and Bad News) for both sides of the Abortion Debate
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| Also listed in: CourtWatch | Pro-Choice Ohio |
Gov. Ted Strickland asked the 6th District Ct. of Appeals to drop his name from the state's effort to defend a bill that would restrict the use of the abortion drug RU-486. Strickland does not want to pursue reversal of a federal district court ruling that the state's ban on the use of RU-486 was unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals upheld the district court's finding to the extent that the law did not have an exemption for cases in which women would be at greater risk through surgical abortions.
On the flip side, Attorney General Marc Dann will continue to defend the law on appeal without the Governor's name.
The law in question makes it illegal for doctors to prescribe mifepristone (RU-486) after the seventh week of pregnancy. Under federal guidelines, the drug cannot be prescribed after 56 days, or eight weeks, of pregnancy. The law requires an FDA-recommended dosage that has since been determined to exceed what is needed to induce abortion.
The Akron Beacon Journal reported that according to the Ohio Department of Health, 4,700 of the 34,128 abortions conducted in the state in 2005, the last year for which statistics are available, were done by non-surgical methods. In that year, 57.3 percent of all abortions in the state were conducted before 9 weeks of gestation. Data was not kept on abortions between 7 weeks and 9 weeks.
On the flip side, Attorney General Marc Dann will continue to defend the law on appeal without the Governor's name.
The law in question makes it illegal for doctors to prescribe mifepristone (RU-486) after the seventh week of pregnancy. Under federal guidelines, the drug cannot be prescribed after 56 days, or eight weeks, of pregnancy. The law requires an FDA-recommended dosage that has since been determined to exceed what is needed to induce abortion.
The Akron Beacon Journal reported that according to the Ohio Department of Health, 4,700 of the 34,128 abortions conducted in the state in 2005, the last year for which statistics are available, were done by non-surgical methods. In that year, 57.3 percent of all abortions in the state were conducted before 9 weeks of gestation. Data was not kept on abortions between 7 weeks and 9 weeks.
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