The city of Lebanon in southwest Ohio decided to revise the law rather than defend it in court. Enforcement was suspended for the duration of this work.

Opponents said they dropped their lawsuit on January 12 after provisions that make aiding and abetting an abortion a crime were removed, and the law was further clarified to ensure that providing transportation, instructions, money, or services from an abortion doula, including counselling, is still allowed.

Lebanon’s ban was one of four that emerged in Ohio in 2021, as part of a national effort to ban abortion “one city at a time” by Texas-based Sanctuary Cities of the Unborn, led by Mark Lee Dixon.

It was the first local ban to be challenged at the national level after a leak revealed that the U.S. Supreme Court planned to overturn Roe v. Wade’s landmark decision to legalize abortion.

“This litigation exposes local ordinance bans as dangerous acts of political theater, and our lawsuit seeks accountability for the logistical and legal nightmare created by the Lebanese City Council,” said Maggie Skotes, interim executive director of the abortion fund, formerly Women Have Options-Ohio. The statement said: “This victory is so unique in the context of our post-Dobbs legal landscape that it creates a strong united front against these heinous attacks.”

Dixon, a Southern Baptist minister who also runs Right to Life in East Texas, said the Lebanese ban amendments make little difference to the law’s primary goal: to ban abortions in a city of about 20,000 from the moment of conception.

“Abortion remains illegal in Lebanon, so this is a big win for Ohio,” Dixon said. “It is worth noting that the opposition claims that we are doing more than we actually do. The fact that we have made our position clear does not invalidate the ban on abortion.”

Ohio adversary groups have argued that while there are no abortion clinics in Lebanon, the sweeping ban appears to require social workers not to discuss abortion when counseling pregnant clients, which “contradicts social workers’ ethical obligations to promote client self-determination.” “.

The Association of Social Workers has taken the position that reproductive freedom is a human right.

According to the website of the Texas anti-abortion group, 64 cities and two counties in the US have already passed similar abortion bans. Dixon said the group will continue this year in New Mexico, where the Democratic Attorney General has moved to lift similar local abortion bans, and will make new infiltration attempts in Nebraska, Kansas and California.

“Even though Rowe has been ousted, there is still much to be done to advance abortion-free communities,” he said.

A federal judge has suspended Ohio’s ban on most abortions as a constitutional lawsuit is pending. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost has asked the Republican-controlled Ohio Supreme Court to block the federal judge’s ruling.