Toledo’s only remaining abortion clinic will stay open, at least for now.

The 6th District Court of Appeals of Lucas County on Friday upheld a ruling from Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Myron Duhart, issued in June of last year.

Judge Duhart reversed the July 29, 2014, order from the Ohio Department of Health that the Capital Care Network close its surgical center. The clinic had been ordered to close because it did not have a written transfer agreement with a “local” hospital to provide emergency care for its patients.

Dan Tierney, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, said the ruling is under review and Mr. DeWine plans to meet with officials at the health department before determining whether to appeal the case to a higher court.

The appellate court noted in its ruling that this is not a standard case about a surgical center as stated by health department officials because it “is an abortion case,” and that the regulations for ambulatory surgical centers “are directed toward abortion providers.”

The court ruled the Ohio Department of Health had violated the “undue burden” standard, which is used by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if a rule governing doctors or clinics or medical procedures become an unconstitutional “undue burden” on a woman’s right to an abortion.

The court also said that if the clinic were to close, women would have to travel to clinics in Cleveland, Columbus, or Detroit. In addition to extra time and travel expenses, these women would also be subjected to greater anxiety by being in a strange place.

“What is more, the influx of these patients to alternate clinics may be onerous and burdensome to the existing patient base,” the court said.

The court also took issue with the argument put forth by the state health department that written transfer agreements with a local hospital are needed to keep women safe in the case emergency services are needed during an abortion.

“The need to transport a patient from Capital Care to a hospital for treatment is just about nonexistent; the record reveals the need has not arisen in the past 12 years,” the court said.

The court also ruled that it was unconstitutional for state lawmakers to include the licensing requirements for abortion clinics in a state budget bill. The budget bill primarily concerns appropriating funds.

“The inclusion of the licensing provision in the budget bill is a clear example of logrolling — the ‘unnatural combination of provisions,’ ” the court said, which is “contrary to the single-subject rule in the Ohio Constitution.”

Katherine Franklin, a spokesman for Ohio Right to Life, said her organization will urge Mr. DeWine to appeal the court’s decision. 

“When you look at the budget there are always other initiatives that make their way in there with any budgetary relevance,” Ms. Franklin said. “Yet again, we are looking at one requirement that, of course, the abortion industry has a problem with and changing the entire budgetary process based on what the abortion industry wants.”

Proponents of access to abortion in Ohio expressed support of the ruling. “Ohio’s transfer agreement requirements for abortion providers are burdensome and medically unnecessary,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.

Contact Marlene Harris-Taylor at: mtaylor@theblade.com, 419-724-6091, or on Twitter @marlenetaylor48.

First Published July 30, 2016, 4:00 a.m.