Ohio's Supreme Court has upheld an order by the state to close the last remaining abortion provider in Toledo in a decision rendered Tuesday.
Buy a vote of 5 to 2, the Court held that the Ohio Department of Health was within its rights to order Capital Care of Toledo closed because they did not have a patient-transfer agreement with a local hospital. A state law passed in 2013 required all clinics that provided abortion services to have those agreements with local hospitals, while also barring public hospitals from providing those services. Capital Care had an agreement with the University of Michigan Health Clinic, but the Department of Health deemed that agreement insufficient for emergency services.
Lower courts had ruled the law as unconstitutional. Capital Care of Toledo is expected to appeal the ruling.