{"id":21356,"date":"2026-03-07T01:30:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=21356"},"modified":"2026-03-07T01:30:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:30:52","slug":"ohios-abortion-amendment-used-to-block-fetal-remains-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=21356","title":{"rendered":"Ohio\u2019s Abortion Amendment Used to Block Fetal Remains Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Reading Time:<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ohio\u2019s pro-abortion\u00a0Reproductive Freedom Amendment, passed in 2023, has now been used to block a state law requiring the humane burial or cremation of aborted children.\n<\/p>\n

Help support IFA monthly by becoming an MMP.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, Ohio\u2019s 1st District Court of Appeals upheld a ruling against Ohio\u2019s SB 27, which mandated fetal remains be buried or cremated.\n<\/p>\n

The appeals court concluded \u201cthat the plain language of the Reproductive Freedom Amendment constrains the State\u2019s ability to regulate all phases of an abortion, including conduct occurring after the procedure.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

That ruling follows a 2021 decision from the\u00a0Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas\u00a0preliminarily blocking the law, as well as a 2025 permanent injunction.\n<\/p>\n

Ohio Right to Life Executive Director Carrie Snyder describes that court as \u201cthe most extreme liberal court that [abortion advocates] can find.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

What the Law Addressed<\/h2>\n

While abortion advocates bringing suit against SB 27 focused on the 2023 ballot initiative, pro-life groups focused on the law itself.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s decision to strike down Ohio\u2019s fetal remains law removes a basic standard of human dignity from state policy,\u201d Peter Range, a senior fellow for the\u00a0Center for Christian Virtue, told The Daily Signal. \u201cWith this ruling, the remains of a child aborted at 10, 15, or even 20 weeks may now be treated under Ohio\u2019s \u2018infectious waste\u2019 regulations\u2014no differently than other medical waste,\u201d he also warned.\n<\/p>\n

Snyder declared it \u201ca tragedy when a human body is treated like trash,\u201d explaining that the law was \u201ca way to address that issue and didn\u2019t burden a woman approaching this decision at all.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Doomed by Lawsuits From the Start<\/h2>\n

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine\u00a0signed SB 27 into law\u00a0on Dec. 30, 2020, with lawsuits quickly coming before the law even went into effect.\n<\/p>\n

The Feb. 25 ruling\u00a0from the 1st District Court of Appeals made clear that the Reproductive Freedom Amendment factored into the decision.\n<\/p>\n

The decision also read that \u201cthe voters of Ohio intended to create a separate, independent state constitutional basis for protecting abortion and abortion providers from State intervention, other than that explicitly allowed by the Amendment. In this regard, the Reproductive Freedom Amendment fills the constitutional void left by Dobbs [v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization]. Nothing in this history or the rationale for the Amendment suggests that the voters intended to excise post-abortion conduct from its protections. Rather, the fact that Ohio voters mobilized quickly to counteract a decision of the United States Supreme Court sends a strong message of their desire to protect reproductive rights.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

A press release from the American Civil Liberties\u00a0highlighted\u00a0the following passage: \u201cOhio voters said what they meant. The state may not burden, penalize, or discriminate against those who have an abortion and those who assist them in obtaining one.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, concerns remain about what voters were actually considering. Snyder pointed out that the amendment was not a matter of making abortion \u201ccompletely legal or completely illegal,\u201d or about medical care for concerns such as miscarriages. \u201cThat was not what they were voting on, that was what they thought they were voting on,\u201d Snyder said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the court explained, the Reproductive Freedom Amendment protects conduct that occurs before, during, and after a procedural abortion,\u201d countered\u00a0Jessie Hill, cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Ohio. \u201cWhile this law has not been in effect for years, today\u2019s ruling will allow our clients to focus on providing essential health care without further interference from the state. We celebrate this ruling as yet another testament to the power of Ohio\u2019s new Reproductive Freedom Amendment, and the first affirmative interpretation from an appellate court.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, which was also involved in the case, directed The Daily Signal to a statement from its medical director, Dr. Sharon Liner.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pleased that the court upheld the injunction blocking the cruel burial and cremation law. Abortion is essential healthcare and this law was nothing more than an opportunity to shame and stigmatize our patients. Our focus remains on the health, safety, and dignity of our patients,\u201d Liner said.\n<\/p>\n

Reproductive Freedom Amendment Plays a Role<\/h2>\n

Range shared with The Daily Signal that the decision to strike down the fetal remains law was expected.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis outcome is not surprising in light of the 2023 abortion amendment. Ohioans were told the amendment would not eliminate commonsense health and safety standards. Yet we are now seeing laws struck down that were designed to reflect basic respect for human life and to ensure accountability in the abortion industry,\u201d he pointed out.\n<\/p>\n

The amendment could be used against other pro-life laws.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abortion advocates are using this vote from 2023, basically as a two-by-four,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cVoters were not given a drop-down list of things that they wanted or didn\u2019t want as far as abortion law, so every single thing that comes up in the category whatsoever, they are pointing to this amendment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI do fear that we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg now,\u201d Snyder added.\n<\/p>\n

The amendment has further ramifications beyond laws being struck down. Both Range and Snyder expressed concerns about\u00a0Ohio seeing an increase in abortions\u00a0in 2025.\n<\/p>\n

Despite passing such an amendment, Ohio remains a red state. That\u2019s something of a silver lining, especially compared to neighboring states like Michigan.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u00a0compare to Michigan, which passed a similar amendment, and they have a very radical pro-abortion majority in the governor and Legislature, and so they knocked down every restriction as fast as they could,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cSo, I think in Ohio, we\u2019re fortunate that we have pro-life majority in the Legislature, we have a pro-life governor, we\u2019re able to muffle the impact at least in the short-term.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

She also referred to the Ohio Supreme Court as a \u201cmuch more favorable court\u201d than the lower courts.\n<\/p>\n

Share your prayers for the unborn in Ohio below.<\/h4>\n

This article was originally published at The Daily Signal. Photo Credit: trestletech\/pixabay via Canva Teams.<\/em>
\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: 4 minutes Ohio\u2019s pro-abortion\u00a0Reproductive Freedom Amendment, passed in 2023, has now been used to block a state law requiring the humane burial or cremation of aborted children. Help support IFA monthly by becoming an MMP. \u00a0 Last week, Ohio\u2019s 1st District Court of Appeals upheld a ruling against Ohio\u2019s SB 27, which mandated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[205,3361,1659,7056,1733,6333,796],"class_list":["post-21356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-prayer","tag-abortion","tag-amendment","tag-block","tag-fetal","tag-law","tag-ohios","tag-remains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}