Columbus, Ohio, Oct 29, 2019 / 15:33 pm
For the second time in three months, Ohio's top court has refused to hear an appeal from the last abortion clinic in Montgomery County.
On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Women's Med Center in Kettering, near Dayton. An earlier request to take up the case had been denied in August by the same court and in April by Ohio's 2nd District Court of Appeals.
The case involves the Ohio Department of Health revoking the clinic's operating license in 2016 because it had not obtained the required patient transfer agreement from local hospitals. The clinic challenged the decision.
Under a 2013 law, abortion facilities in Ohio are required to have a transfer agreement with nearby hospitals in case of a medical emergency. To be exempt from the requirement, a facility must indicate that it has sufficient backup physicians, and its request must be approved by the state health director.