A city in southwest Ohio is the state's first to ban abortion, aligning itself with government officials across the country who want to roll back reproductive rights established by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Lebanon City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the measure, which declares the community north of Cincinnati a "sanctuary city for the unborn" and classifies abortion as a "murderous act of violence." The move comes as cities and states including Ohio seek to tighten abortion restrictions and chip away at the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
The Lebanon ordinance drew heated commentary from both sides of the debate and prompted one council member to resign in protest ahead of Tuesday's meeting. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, meanwhile, said it was prepared to sue and is now "reviewing next steps."
Here's what you need to know about the abortion ban.
What does the ordinance mean for Lebanon residents?
It's now illegal within Lebanon city limits to provide an abortion, aid an abortion, provide money or transportation for an abortion or provide instructions for an abortion. Women who seek the procedure won't be prosecuted, but other violators could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The measure does not apply to ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages or abortions that are necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child. Abortions would be permitted if a doctor proves that it prevented death or risk of "substantial impairment of a major bodily function" to the woman, but cases of rape or incest are not exempt.
The city of 20,000 people does not have any abortion clinics, and none are planned. The ordinance does not prohibit residents from seeking an abortion in other parts of the state. The closest health care center to Lebanon that offers abortion services is in Cincinnati.
It's ultimately too soon to tell how the ordinance will play out in practice, but advocates for abortion access are still sounding the alarm.
"Efforts to control Ohioan’s bodily autonomy are and will always be a threat to the health and safety of those living in our state," Kersha Deibel, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, said in a statement. "The ordinance in Lebanon is just another example of the extreme and unconstitutional lengths anti-abortion activists will go to prevent patients from seeking the care they need and deserve."
Have other cities done this?
Lebanon is the 28th city in the United States to ban abortion. Council member Doug Shope worked with the Texas-based Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn to craft an ordinance passed by cities in Texas and Nebraska.
Texas had been the epicenter of the sanctuary city movement, but the effort is starting to percolate in other parts of the country, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University.
Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis said Wednesday that he's talked with officials in other Ohio municipalities about introducing an ordinance. Anti-abortion activists hope to use this tactic to sway the conversation as the Supreme Court prepares to take up a Mississippi abortion law next year.
"We hope that it catches on like wildfire," Gonidakis said.
Is it legal?
That remains to be seen.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas sued Lubbock, Texas, earlier this month after the city's voters approved a ban and argued that it violates people's constitutional right to access abortion. Court records show the city has pushed for the case's dismissal, and a federal judge will consider that question during a hearing Friday.
Gonidakis contends the ACLU wouldn't be able to sue successfully over the Lebanon ordinance because there's no abortion clinic in the city — and therefore no obvious plaintiff for a case.
"There is no grounds for litigation in Lebanon because there is no party that’s been harmed," he said.
Others disagree. Jessie Hill, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and former ACLU attorney, said cities and states are bound by the same constitutional constraints and can't ban something simply because they're against it.
"Just because there’s not an abortion provider in Lebanon right now, that doesn’t make it legal or constitutional to ban abortion," she said.
Ziegler doubts Lebanon's ordinance would survive a legal challenge, but she said these policies aren't meant to be enforced and instead serve as a symbol. As with Lebanon, she said, most cities that pass abortion bans don't have a clinic and aren't facing an imminent concern that forced them to act.
"They want to make a statement," Ziegler said. "They want to put themselves on record as having a particular view on abortion."
