Editor’s note: In November 2023, voters approved Issue 1, enacting an amendment to the Ohio Constitutional relating to reproductive rights. As of the time of this printing, the Ohio Legislature had not yet amended the state statutes to reflect necessary changes, if any.
(A) As used in this section:
ABORTION. Means the purposeful termination of a human pregnancy by any person, including the pregnant woman herself, with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus or embryo.
(R.C. § 2919.11)
EMANCIPATED. A minor shall be considered emancipated if the minor has married, entered the armed services of the United States, become employed and self- subsisting, or has otherwise become independent from the care and control of her parent, guardian or custodian.
UNEMANCIPATED. Means a woman who is unmarried and under 18 years of age who has not entered the armed services of the United States, has not become employed and self-subsisting, or has not otherwise become independent from the care and control of her parent, guardian, or custodian.
(B) No person shall perform or induce an abortion without the informed consent of the pregnant woman.
(C) No person shall knowingly perform or induce an abortion upon a pregnant minor unless one of the following is the case:
(1) The attending physician has secured the informed written consent of the minor and one parent, guardian or custodian;
(2) The minor is emancipated and the attending physician has received her informed written consent;
(3) The minor has been authorized to consent to the abortion by a court order issued pursuant to R.C. § 2919.121(C) and the attending physician has received her informed written consent; or
(4) The court has given its consent in accordance with R.C. § 2919.121(C) and the minor is having the abortion willingly.
(D) No person shall knowingly perform or induce an abortion upon a woman who is pregnant, unmarried, under 18 years of age, and unemancipated unless at least one of the circumstances enumerated in R.C. § 2919.12(B) applies.
(E) (1) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (D) of this section that the pregnant woman provided the person who performed or induced the abortion with false, misleading, or incorrect information about her age, marital status, or emancipation, about the age of the brother or sister to whom she requested notice to be given as a specified relative instead of one of her parents, her guardian, or her custodian, or about the last known address of either of her parents, her guardian, her custodian, or a specified brother, sister, stepparent, or grandparent to whom she requested notice be given and the person who performed or induced the abortion did not otherwise have reasonable cause to believe the pregnant woman was under 18 years of age, unmarried, or unemancipated, to believe that the age of the brother or sister to whom she requested notice be given as a specified relative instead of one of her parents, her guardian, or her custodian was not 21 years of age, or to believe that the last known address of either of her parents, her guardian, her custodian, or a specified brother, sister, stepparent, or grandparent to whom she requested notice be given was incorrect.
(2) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section that compliance with the requirements of this section was not possible because an immediate threat of serious risk to the life or physical health of the pregnant woman or pregnant minor from the continuation of her pregnancy created an emergency necessitating the immediate performance or inducement of an abortion.
(F) Whoever violates this section is guilty of unlawful abortion. A violation of division (B), (C) or (D) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree on the first offense and a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law on each subsequent offense.
(G) Whoever violates this section is liable to the pregnant woman or pregnant minor, and her parents, guardian, or custodian for civil, compensatory and exemplary damages.
(R.C. §§ 2919.12, 2919.121)
(H) (1) Division (C) of this section applies in lieu of division (D) of this section whenever its operation is not enjoined. If division (C) of this section is enjoined, division (D) of this section applies.
(2) If a person complies with the requirements of division (D) of this section under the good faith belief that the application or enforcement of division (C) of this section is subject to a restraining order or injunction, good faith compliance shall constitute a complete defense to any civil, criminal or professional disciplinary action brought under division (C) of this section or R.C. § 2919.121.
(3) If a person complies with the requirements of division (C) of this section under the good faith belief that it is not subject to a restraining order or injunction, good faith compliance shall constitute a complete defense to any civil, criminal or professional disciplinary action for failure to comply with the requirements of division (D) of this section.
(R.C. § 2919.122) (Rev. 1999)
(I) Failure to perform viability testing.
(1) Except in a medical emergency that prevents compliance with this division, no physician shall perform or induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman after the beginning of the twentieth week of gestation unless, prior to the performance or inducement of the abortion or the attempt to perform or induce the abortion, the physician determines, in the physician’s good faith medical judgment, that the unborn child is not viable, and the physician makes that determination after performing a medical examination of the pregnant woman and after performing or causing to be performed those tests for assessing gestational age, weight, lung maturity, or other tests that the physician, in that physician’s good faith medical judgment, believes are necessary to determine whether an unborn child is viable.
(2) Except in a medical emergency that prevents compliance with this division, no physician shall perform or induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman after the beginning of the twentieth week of gestation without first entering the determination made in division (I)(1) of this section and the associated findings of the medical examination and tests in the medical record of the pregnant woman.
(3) Whoever violates this division (I) is guilty of failure to perform viability testing, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(4) The State Medical Board shall suspend a physician’s license to practice medicine in this state for a period of not less than six months if the physician violates this section.
(R.C. § 2919.18) (Rev. 2012)
(J) Abortion trafficking.
(1) No person shall experiment upon or sell the product of human conception which is aborted. Experiment does not include autopsies pursuant to R.C. §§ 313.13 and 2108.50.
(2) Whoever violates division (j) of this section is guilty of abortion trafficking, a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(R.C. § 2919.14)
Statutory reference:
Judicial bypass, see R.C. § 2151.85
Judicial consent and the right of a minor to consent, see R.C. § 2919.121(C)
Notice or consent requirements for unmarried minors, see R.C. § 2919.12(B)