Ohio anti-abortion rights lobby files complaint against company for telehealth abortion services

This article was originally published by Ohio Capital Journal.

An Ohio anti-abortion rights lobby reported a reproductive care website to the state’s Department of Health, in an attempt to address what the lobbying group called “harmful circumvention of Ohio’s laws.” Those laws have been unenforceable by court order since last year.

The complaint was filed by Ohio Right to Life’s director of external and legislative affairs, Emma Martinez, who asked that the state look into the website Hey Jane for potential violations of Ohio Revised Code.

The law that the website was accused of violating requires physicians to be “physically present at the location where the initial dose of the (medication abortion) drug or regimen of drugs is consumed at the time the initial dose is consumed,” according to the Ohio Revised Code language.

Hey Jane expanded its services to Ohio in February, and has been working in reproductive and sexual health spaces, providing mifepristone, the FDA-approved abortion medication, since it was approved for mail-order distribution in 2021. Its website touts the ability to conduct virtual care through chat, phone, or video appointments, with some services covered by insurance.

Along with medication abortion services, the website also provides help accessing birth control, emergency contraception, and treatment for urinary tract infections, yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, and herpes.

The company says patients can access its services if they are at least 18 years old, medically eligible for the services and are currently in the states of Ohio, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, or Washington. Residency in those states is not required, according to Hey Jane.

“It is our opinion that Heyjane.com works to deliver pills without any type of physical exam by a physician,” Ohio Right to Life’s Martinez wrote in a letter addressed to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, head of the Ohio Department of Health. “In so doing, this website provides dangerous pharmaceuticals without the legally required physician oversight.”

But a Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas ruling in September 2024 left state laws hindering mail-order abortion medication unenforceable. Judge Alison Hathaway temporarily blocked a law that limited the prescription, method, and time during pregnancy in which mifepristone could be distributed.

The court decision was noted in the Ohio Department of Health’s response to the complaint, in which Tyler Herrmann, general counsel for the health department, said the agency “appreciates the effort of Ohio Right to Life in bringing these matters to our attention.”

However, the department stated the law mentioned is a “criminal statute under which ODH is provided no enforcement authority.”

“This matter would be more appropriately directed to the State Medical Board of Ohio and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office,” Herrmann wrote, adding that the health department had shared the complaint with those offices.

Among the State Medical Board of Ohio’s members is Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.

Gonidakis was originally appointed to the position in 2012 by then-Gov. John Kasich, an appointment that was renewed by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2022. Gonidakis’ current term on the board lasts until 2027.

The Ohio Right to Life complaint also questions the information the website provides, and says there is “no evidence that Hey Jane complies with Ohio’s long-standing law of reporting the abortions they are facilitating.”

Herrmann said the department “has been in communication with the company to remind them of this obligation,” and plans to “closely monitor the issue going forward.”

Hey Jane’s co-founder and CEO, Kiki Freedman, said the complaint was “without merit,” but expressed appreciation to Ohio Right to Life for drawing attention to the company’s expansion into Ohio, noting the small number of in-person clinics in the state, which currently stands at 11, “amid increased demand for safe abortion care.”

Despite the appreciation, “we are disturbed and disappointed by their intentional effort to misinform and mislead Ohioans about the legality of Hey Jane’s care in Ohio,” Freedman told the Capital Journal in a statement.

“It is deeply important to Hey Jane that Ohioans have access to accurate, factual information that allows them to make informed decisions about accessing high-quality and safe abortion care,” Freedman said.

While the court order has temporarily allowed telehealth abortion care, Democratic legislators are trying to codify the care, hoping to add a layer of protection on top of those enshrined in the 2023 state constitutional amendment which includes abortion rights among those established in the state’s founding document.

State Rep. Anita Somani, D-Dublin, re-introduced a bill recently to codify reproductive rights under House Bill 128. In the bill, “reproductive health care and related services may be provided as telehealth services.”

The bill also looks to repeal laws currently in Ohio Revised Code that prohibit or regulate abortion care in a way that bill sponsors feel goes against the constitutional amendment.

Regulations other than the telehealth law include a 24-hour waiting period required before an abortion procedure, a minimum of two physician appointments before the procedure can occur and regulations on hospital transfer agreements for physicians who also provide care at reproductive care clinics.

The bill was introduced at the end of February and referred to the House Health Committee, where it has yet to receive a hearing.