Judge temporarily blocks Ohio from banning nearly all abortions

An Ohio judge temporarily blocked a statewide ban on nearly all abortions for two weeks.

Existing state law allows abortion up to a 20-week gestation limit, according to Politico. Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins granted the stay as part of a suit from the Ohio ACLU, which sued on behalf of the state's abortion providers.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill in 2019, which bans abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Prior legal challenges had blocked the ban, though it ultimately took effect after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark abortion precedent set in Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

In the aftermath, many states have pushed to ban the procedure outright, prompting a multitude of legal battles. Most recently, the West Virginia state legislature passed a near-total ban on abortions on Wednesday with exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies but with an eight-week gestational limit.