David Y. Ige

HONOLULU – Hawaii Attorney General Clare E. Connors, joining a coalition of 21 attorneys general, today filed an amicus brief in support of a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion care in Preterm-Cleveland, et al. v. Himes. The case involves an Ohio law that criminalizes abortion before viability based on a woman’s reason for seeking abortion, running in direct conflict with the Supreme Court precedent set in Roe v. Wade. The amicus brief reaffirms the coalition’s previous support for Preterm-Cleveland and argues that the preliminary injunction issued by the Sixth Circuit Court should again be upheld by the en banc panel.

“Criminalizing safe health care options for women is unconstitutional,” said Attorney General Connors. “Our state is committed to ensuring that established rights in this area are not eroded by illegal laws.”

In December 2017, Ohio passed a law to criminalize abortion in certain cases, at all stages of pregnancy, making it inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s decades-long legal standard put forward in Roe v. Wade. Preterm-Cleveland, a medical facility, challenged the constitutionality of the law and successfully blocked its enforcement, which was set to go into effect in March 2018. The decision was then appealed by Ohio to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which upheld the District Court’s preliminary injunction. Ohio sought further review of the decision, petitioning the Sixth Circuit to hear the appeal en banc. In the brief submitted today, the coalition restates its support for the injunction and argues that Ohio’s law is incompatible with the law and Supreme Court precedent.

In filing the brief, Attorney General Connors joined the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

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For more information, contact:

Krishna F. Jayaram
Special Assistant to the Attorney General
(808) 586-1284
Email: [email protected]
Web: https://ag.hawaii.gov
Twitter: @ATGHIgov