Abortion Clinic Dispute To Be Argued In Ohio Supreme Court

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TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A dispute over whether to shut down Toledo's last abortion clinic is headed to the Ohio Supreme Court in a case both sides view as pivotal.

At issue in Tuesday's oral arguments is the Ohio Department of Health's 2014 order shutting down Capital Care of Toledo for lack of a patient-transfer agreement with a local hospital.

Such agreements were mandated, and public hospitals barred from providing them, under restrictions Ohio lawmakers passed in 2013. The change prompted the public University of Toledo Hospital to withdraw from its transfer arrangement with Capital Care.

Lower courts have ruled the restrictions unconstitutional and allowed the clinic to continue operating.

Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine has appealed. He's asking the court to uphold the state's action and shut the clinic down.