The Ohio Department of Health produces the Ohio Abortion Report each year that gives information about abortions being performed during a calendar year. A new provision in the Ohio House budget would expand the information collected and make it available continuously. But abortion rights supporters suspect the provision is unconstitutional.
The budget would require the Ohio Department of Health to establish an online dashboard. Information on abortions should be updated monthly.
"This is long overdue, and it should have been done a decade ago,” said Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis. He said the current information collected in abortion reporting is antiquated.
“Everything is still happening via paper, and when the abortion report comes out on Oct. 1 of every year, which the law requires, it's for the previous year's information,” Gonidakis said. “The 2024 numbers aren't for 2024, they were for 2023. So the information is stale.”
The scope of the information required would also be far greater than it is now. It would require providers to list each patient’s education level, zip code, number of previous abortions, menstrual history, Rh factor in blood, and the method of contraception used at the time of conception, if any.
Abortion rights supporters, anti-abortion activists react
Jaime Miracle, deputy director of Abortion Forward, said Ohio already has some of the most medically unnecessary and burdensome reporting requirements in the nation.
"What this legislature is doing is forcing healthcare staff to comply with even more medically unnecessary regulations, meaning fewer appointments for patients,” Miracle said. "No one wants to wait longer to see a doctor because they're busy completing extra paperwork to satisfy some politician’s agenda in the Ohio legislature."
Miracle said the proposed reporting requirements are also unconstitutional under the reproductive rights amendment voters approved in 2023, because patients getting abortions are treated differently than patients undergoing other medical procedures.
“The Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment says that you can't discriminate against patients or providers for providing reproductive healthcare, and by requiring this reporting only for abortion procedures and medication abortion provided to patients. It is discriminatory," Miracle said.
Miracle also fears the additional information could end up violating the privacy of some women.
“Some of our counties have very low populations. If you are reporting the number of abortions per county by month, that could be an individual person," Miracle said.
Gonidakis said that's not the case.
“In no way, shape or form under current law or under this proposal would a woman’s personal information be disclosed," Gonidakis said.
Gonidakis also said opponents who claim the new reporting requirements are unconstitutional are wrong.
“I would love for them to challenge it because they would lose and lose badly,” Gonidakis said. “It doesn't violate the Ohio constitution any more than collecting COVID information or bourbon sales in the state of Ohio.”
Budget includes other lines affecting abortion or LGBTQ+ rights
It’s not unusual for non-monetary items to be tucked into the budget, which is must-pass legislation. This budget includes several other provisions related to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights:
- Sets a maximum $750 donation to Pregnancy Resource Centers as a tax credit
- Defines only “two sexes” recognized in Ohio - male and female
- Prohibits mental health facilities that promote social gender transition from getting Medicaid dollars
- Bans taxpayer money for youth shelters that “promote or affirm” gender transition
- Requires libraries to remove material related to sexual orientation and gender identity from the children’s section
It is now up to the Senate to determine if these provisions stay in the budget. A vote is likely in the commander by June 12. The budget must be signed by Gov. Mike DeWine by June 30.
