The Ohio Department of Health is being sued for failing to provide information about communications involving a Toledo abortion clinic. The lawsuit that's been filed in the Ohio Supreme Court asks it to order the agency to hand over certain public documents.
ACLU of Ohio senior staff attorney Amy Gilbert said her organization and the Reproductive Rights Law Initiative at Case Western Reserve University filed the suit, asking for some basic information.
“We sent very narrow public requests. They were to five specific individuals regarding specific subject matter,” Gilbert said in an interview. “We provided search terms. And we were only looking at a six-month span of time.”
Gilbert said the request was made as the Toledo Women's Center was trying to get its license to operate.
“There were concerns about why the license process was taking so long and ODH was not providing any additional information and communications," Gilbert said.
She added: “ODH has gone to great lengths to keep these records hidden, and I think that is the primary concern.”
Most of the justices on the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court have gone on record as being anti-abortion. The Attorney General’s office said it won’t comment on pending litigation.
