State moves to close last abortion clinic here

COLUMBUS -- Cincinnati could become the largest metropolitan area in the country without an abortion clinic after state health officials denied licenses to the two remaining clinics in Southwest Ohio, a step toward forcing them to close.

The closures would take the number of surgical abortion providers in Ohio to seven, down from 14 in 2013, in part because of restrictions passed by the Republican-dominated Ohio Legislature, signed by Gov. John Kasich and enforced by his administration.

Conservatives have heralded the dwindling number of abortion clinics. Still, the threat of closures in Southwest Ohio has raised the question of whether 2.1 million people in the Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky metro area have access to the procedure without an abortion clinic in their city. The Cincinnati area lost another clinic last year, when a facility in Sharonville stopped providing surgical abortions after its license was revoked.

On Friday, Ohio Department of Health Director Richard Hodges moved toward the possible closure of two more clinics, denying requests from the Planned Parenthood clinic in Mount Auburn and the Women's Med clinic in Dayton to continue operating under an exception to state law, called a "variance."

Ohio law requires surgical clinics to have a patient-transfer agreement with a private hospital in order to receive a license that allows them to perform abortions. If they can't find a private hospital willing to sign on, clinics can receive an exception from the Ohio Department of Health. Both clinics had waited months for a response to their requests.

Letters sent to the clinics Friday stated both had too few doctors to accept patients from the clinics in case of an emergency.

The Health Department "is denying the variances to protect the health of patients in the facilities," spokeswoman Melanie Amato said.

When the health department last approved the Mount Auburn clinic's variance, the facility had four physicians assigned as backups. Its May request listed only three. State law does not list a required number of physicians, said Danielle Craig, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio.

"The argument that this is necessary to protect women is bogus," Craig said. "If it was about safety, the public hospitals would be able to work with us.

"It’s all to make it impossible for abortion providers to operate in Ohio," she said of the state law.

But Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, praised Kasich's administration for helping to close two clinics that Gonidakis says cannot meet basic safety requirements.

"These two clinics failed to meet the standards of Ohio law. They shouldn’t have a free pass," Gonidakis said.

And if the clinics are ultimately closed? "Praise God if there are no more abortion clinics in Southwest Ohio," Gonidakis said.

Both facilities may request a hearing within 30 days to dispute the denial. They can remain open during the appeal, Amato said.

Planned Parenthood officials plan to appeal the decision and find another physician, Craig said. "Our expectation is if we had four that would be enough."

The missives from the Department of Health came shortly before new abortion restrictions will take effect. Under a new law, which Kasich signed June 30, the health department will have only 60 days to make a decision on variance requests. If the department doesn't give an answer within 60 days, or denies the request for an exception, the abortion clinics lose their licenses.

Planned Parenthood and Women's Med Clinic have filed suit in federal court, disputing the new law.

Chrissie Thompson contributed to this report.