A state representative will get the opportunity to explain how his bill strengthening reporting requirements for child abuse relates to an Ohio Supreme Court case on abortion.

The Supreme Court yesterday allowed Rep. Robert Mecklenborg, R-Cincinnati, to join a case in which Planned Parenthood is accused of ignoring evidence of physical abuse against women visiting its clinics for abortions. The case already has scores of individuals and groups filing friend-of-the-court briefs on both sides.

Mecklenborg added a provision to the domestic-abuse bill to make it easier to sue people who fail to report suspected cases of abuse. The bill, which passed the Senate 33-0 and the House 91-2 last year, also required abortion clinics to post notices that prospective patients can't be forced to undergo abortions.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the parents of a 14-year-old girl who had an abortion at a Cincinnati clinic argued their cases before the Ohio Supreme Court in October.

In an unusual move, the court is continuing to accept written briefs from some of the parties. Mecklenborg's attorneys argued that his bill might relate to the case, and Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer agreed yesterday.

-- James Nash jnash@dispatch.com