COLUMBUS, Ohio — Despite Ohioans overwhelmingly protecting access to abortion, Republican lawmakers are moving to restrict the procedure by ending telehealth prescriptions and mail-order pills. The sponsors say they aren't specifically targeting abortion, but the increase in drugs available through the mail.
Issue 1 passed in Nov. 2023, 57-43%, enshrining reproductive rights into the state constitution. It says Ohioans have the right to make their own decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and continuing pregnancy. The state is prohibited from interfering with or penalizing someone for exercising this right.
Since 2024, the state's 13 abortion clinics have been able to prescribe the abortion pill during video visits with patients, and even mail it directly to homes.
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At the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, Dr. David Burkons says two-thirds of his patients have a medication abortion, versus a surgical one.
"People don't have to say, ‘Well, I have to take off work to go to the clinic. I can get it by mail. I can do this when I want to,’" Burkons said. "It's on their schedule rather than ours, which obviously has a lot of appeal to people."
But that form of access could be restricted soon.
"Mail-order medications have become much more commonplace, and this is a good, common-sense, generally applicable bill," state Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) said.
Matthews and state Rep. Meredith Craig (R-Smithville) introduced House Bill 324, which would prevent mail-order prescriptions and telehealth appointments for medications that cause “severe adverse effects” in more than 5% of users.
Anti-abortion groups that testified in support of the bill cite a study done by a right-wing think tank that lists Mifepristone, the most common abortion medication, as having severe impacts on 10% of patients.
"If these medications are sending any patients to the hospital with sepsis, organ failure at a rate of one out of 20 patients, then I think that should be the cause of concern, whatever the medication may be used for," Mathews said.
Burkons points to plenty of studies, including data from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, that state the meds are safe. The legislation is unconstitutional, he added.
RELATED: Ohio's abortion ban is unconstitutional. Why is the state still fighting for it?
"They're letting politics get in the way of healthcare, and abortion is healthcare," Burkons said.
When we questioned, Mathews said that this wasn’t meant to target abortion, as it applies to various classes of drugs like antidepressants and opioids. The Ohio Department of Health would decide which drugs meet that 5% threshold.
"Looking at the Department of Health, insurance claims, and the self-reported studies that a drug manufacturer puts out," Mathews explained.
This would require in-person appointments at one of the 13 clinics to get the abortion pill, which Burkons said will reinstate barriers to care.
"They're trying to say, 'We know more than the women do, we're going to make it more difficult or impossible for them to access this very, very efficient method of healthcare,'" the doctor said.
It’s still early in the hearing process, but progressive advocates say they are prepared to sue if this bill goes through.
RELATED: Republican lawmakers in Ohio to propose total abortion and IVF ban
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