Full abortion access restored in Toledo
Press Release | May 16, 2018
Columbus — Toledo’s only abortion clinic, Capital Care Network, has received a license from the Ohio Department of Health. Full abortion services will resume in coming days. The license was temporarily revoked because of a bureaucratic rule, called a transfer agreement, created by Gov. John Kasich in his effort to deny Ohioans access to safe and legal abortion care.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “John Kasich and Mike DeWine have bent over backwards to block women from having access to safe and legal abortion care. They’ve lied, cheated, wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars to push their anti-abortion agenda without shame or consideration of who they have hurt. Twenty thousand Ohioans rely on abortion providers each year. Closing a clinic denies them from the procedure they chose that is best for them. John Kasich and Mike DeWine picked a fight with Ohio women and lost.”
“Toledo is a strong community with world-class health care provided by qualified professionals. Northwest Ohio has great hospitals, doctors, and nurses. Today, we’re proud to see it again has abortion care provided by a terrific team at Capital Care Network. Toledo is a place that people travel to for excellent medical care, and this abortion clinic is a valuable part of those services.”
A Toledo hospital provided Capital Care Network with a signed transfer agreement on February 12, 2018 — just days after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled against the clinic’s challenge to the transfer agreement requirement. Because the clinic license was revoked with the court decision, Capital Care Network had to file for a new license from the state, which was issued on May 8, 2018. NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio has always maintained that transfer agreement laws are unconstitutional. A separate challenge in federal court by abortion providers in Cincinnati and Dayton will continue this argument, supported by the 2016 Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision.
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