COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Dayton area's last abortion clinic has prevailed in a years-long battle over Ohio’s stringent new licensing requirements and will remain open.
The Ohio Department of Health has granted Women’s Med Center a surgical facility license.
The center in Kettering had postponed surgical abortions as it pursued multiple avenues to stay open, including state and federal court challenges and negotiations with local health systems and doctors.
After being unable to land the legally required emergency patient-transfer agreement, the center secured enough doctor signatures for a variance.
Ohio Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, said it’s disappointed the state licensed the facility and feels it skirted laws for years that it says are intended to protect women.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, an abortion-rights group, said Ohio’s restrictive abortion laws are not medically necessary.