Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 2919 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.16 (2026)

Post-viability abortion definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
October 20, 2011
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 78 - 129th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

As used in sections 2919.16 to 2919.18 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Fertilization" means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.

(B) "Gestational age" or "gestation" means the age of an unborn child as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of a pregnant woman.

(C) "Health care facility" means a hospital, clinic, ambulatory surgical treatment center, other center, medical school, office of a physician, infirmary, dispensary, medical training institution, or other institution or location in or at which medical care, treatment, or diagnosis is provided to a person.

(D) "Hospital" has the same meanings as in sections 3701.01, 3727.01, and 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(E) "Live birth" has the same meaning as in division (A) of section 3705.01 of the Revised Code.

(F) "Medical emergency" means a condition that in the physician's good faith medical judgment, based upon the facts known to the physician at that time, so complicates the woman's pregnancy as to necessitate the immediate performance or inducement of an abortion in order to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to avoid a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman that delay in the performance or inducement of the abortion would create.

(G) "Physician" has the same meaning as in section 2305.113 of the Revised Code.

(H) "Pregnant" means the human female reproductive condition, that commences with fertilization, of having a developing fetus.

(I) "Pregnancy" means the condition of being pregnant.

(J) "Premature infant" means a human whose live birth occurs prior to thirty-eight weeks of gestational age.

(K) "Serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" means any medically diagnosed condition that so complicates the pregnancy of the woman as to directly or indirectly cause the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. A medically diagnosed condition that constitutes a "serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" includes pre-eclampsia, inevitable abortion, and premature rupture of the membranes, may include, but is not limited to, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, and does not include a condition related to the woman's mental health.

(L) "Unborn child" means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.

(M) "Viable" means the stage of development of a human fetus at which in the determination of a physician, based on the particular facts of a woman's pregnancy that are known to the physician and in light of medical technology and information reasonably available to the physician, there is a realistic possibility of the maintaining and nourishing of a life outside of the womb with or without temporary artificial life-sustaining support.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1995–2016 · leading case: Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D. Ohio 1995).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D. Ohio 1995). · cites it 28× “Although it may seem that a child who was certain to die, and had no reasonable chance for normal development, would not be considered to be viable, the testimony in this case indicates otherwise.”
People v. Higuera, 625 N.W.2d 444 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “In Voinovich, supra, the court, relying, in part, on Colautti , held that the medical necessity and medical emergency provisions of the Ohio abortion act regulating post-viability abortions, Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2919.16 (F), were unconstitutionally vague: We conclude that the…”
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 130 F.3d 187 (6th Cir. 1997). · cites it 3× “Ohio Rev.Code Ann § 2919.16(B). . The Act defines "medical emergency” as follows: [A] condition that a pregnant woman's physician determines, in good faith and in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the woman’s pregnancy as to necessitate the immediate…”
Jones v. MetroHealth Med. Ctr., 2016 Ohio 4858 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016). “The court next noted that New York law did not treat a lack of informed consent as a battery, but had opted for a “negligence approach” in which the torfeasor’s actions were viewed under a standard of R.C. 2919.16(M) defines “viable” as the stage of development of a human fetus…”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.16(B) — 2 cases
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D. Ohio 1995). “Although it may seem that a child who was certain to die, and had no reasonable chance for normal development, would not be considered to be viable, the testimony in this case indicates otherwise.”
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 130 F.3d 187 (6th Cir. 1997). “Ohio Rev.Code Ann § 2919.16(B). . The Act defines "medical emergency” as follows: [A] condition that a pregnant woman's physician determines, in good faith and in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the woman’s pregnancy as to necessitate the immediate…”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.16(F) — 2 cases
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D. Ohio 1995). “Although it may seem that a child who was certain to die, and had no reasonable chance for normal development, would not be considered to be viable, the testimony in this case indicates otherwise.”
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 130 F.3d 187 (6th Cir. 1997). “Ohio Rev.Code Ann § 2919.16(B). . The Act defines "medical emergency” as follows: [A] condition that a pregnant woman's physician determines, in good faith and in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the woman’s pregnancy as to necessitate the immediate…”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.16(J) — 1 case
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D. Ohio 1995). “Although it may seem that a child who was certain to die, and had no reasonable chance for normal development, would not be considered to be viable, the testimony in this case indicates otherwise.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.16(L) — 1 case
Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D. Ohio 1995). “Although it may seem that a child who was certain to die, and had no reasonable chance for normal development, would not be considered to be viable, the testimony in this case indicates otherwise.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2919.16(M) — 1 case
Jones v. MetroHealth Med. Ctr., 2016 Ohio 4858 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016). “The court next noted that New York law did not treat a lack of informed consent as a battery, but had opted for a “negligence approach” in which the torfeasor’s actions were viewed under a standard of R.C. 2919.16(M) defines “viable” as the stage of development of a human fetus…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.