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Questions about abortion in Ohio after the overturning of Roe v. Wade? A legal and medical panel weighs in

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association held a free forum on Monday to address the changing legal landscape.

CLEVELAND — A panel discussion on Monday examined the legal landscape after the overturning of Roe v. Wade and following Ohio's heartbeat bill restricting abortion access became law.

The forum included medical and legal experts in the area of reproductive rights, and was hosted by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.

"There's been absolute chaos across the country on the legal front," said Jessie Hill, law professor at Case Western Reserve University and an expert in abortion law.

Hill wanted to clarify that providers -- not patients -- would be prosecuted for any abortion violations under current Ohio law.

But the changing legal landscape has left many doctors, lawyers, and patients with many questions.

How would a prosecutor even find out if you've had an abortion?

"We've been discussing this quite a bit and trying to figure that out with HIPAA laws," said Jen Driscoll, assistant prosecuting attorney in the Cuyahoga Prosecutor's Office. She said the Ohio Department of Health could be the entity that could go in and investigate if someone were to call in and say they have a tip that a provider was performing an illegal abortion. 

Could your cell phone data be used in a criminal prosecution of abortion?

Yes, according to the criminal defense attorneys on the panel.

"But it needs to be obtained properly, with probable cause and a search warrant," said Diane Menashe, attorney at Ice Miller, LLP. 

Period tracker apps, calendar data, and Google searches could all be used to build circumstantial evidence to support a criminal prosecution for abortion.

"If you don't want anyone to know about it, don't type it into your phone," warned Madelyn Grant, attorney at Friedman and Nemecek law firm.

Could prosecutors refusing to take on abortion cases be forced to prosecute?

Not likely, agreed the legal panel, because of prosecutors' discretionary powers, however, the Ohio Attorney General's Office could certainly step in. 3News reached out to Attorney General Dave Yost to see if, or how his office could intervene with a county case, but did not get an immediate response.

Earlier this month, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb declared that his law department would not prosecute abortion-related crimes, joining Columbus city attorney Zach Klein who pledged not to prosecute abortion cases.

Their declarations are arguably political posturing, since abortion violations are fifth-degree felonies. Driscoll, the assistant prosecuting attorney, noted that county attorneys, not municipal attorneys, would handle these felony abortion violations. 

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley is currently the lone county prosecutor in Ohio’s 88 counties, who is on the record declining to prosecute abortion-related crimes.

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