COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge has temporarily banned Ohio officials from using a public-health order forbidding nonessential surgeries during the coronavirus pandemic to restrict providers from performing abortions within the state.
The ruling, issued Monday evening by Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati, came just hours after Planned Parenthood, Preterm Cleveland and other providers had requested the court to intervene.
The judge’s order will last for 14 days, unless he changes it. Barrett indicated he is considering whether to issue another ruling, called a preliminary injunction, that would continue to bar the state from restricting such abortions while the clinics pursue legal claims on the subject.
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