Abortion rights advocates in Ohio have taken an important step toward getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot, making the state a potential battleground for reproductive rights this fall.
Pro-abortion groups told the secretary of state’s office on Wednesday that they had nearly doubled the 413,446 signatures required. The government has until July 25 to verify the signatures and ensure they are legitimate. Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, the umbrella organization for abortion rights advocates aligned with the ACLU, called it a “historic day.”
“We can’t thank our volunteers enough for this Herculean grassroots effort to ensure that patients and doctors, not government extremists, control private medical decision-making.” Supporters said on the campaign.
In response to the submitted signatures, Protect Women Ohio, an anti-abortion group opposing the initiative, an “extreme anti-parent amendment” and an attempt by the ACLU to “hack the Ohio constitution.”
“As Ohio goes, so does the rest of the nation,” said the president of Ohio Right To Life, an anti-abortion group.
What the measurement would do
If passed and approved by voters, it would enshrine reproductive rights in the Ohio constitution by adding a section stating that each person has the right to “make and carry out their own reproductive decisions, including including, but not limited to, decisions about contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. The language has already been approved by the office of state vote and .
Abortion in Ohio currently remains legal until 22 weeks of pregnancy. While a six-week ‘heartbeat bill’ ban went into effect last June after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, she was temporarily blocked by a state judge. The Ohio Supreme Court, however, could choose to reinstate the ban.
During the period between the enactment of the ban and its blocking, a 10-year-old girl had to travel to Indiana to have an abortion in a case that drew national attention. Wednesday, with a chance of parole after 25 years.
found that 59% of Ohio voters supported making access to abortion a basic right for state residents.
GOP Legislature pushes back
According to the results of a special election in August, 59% may not be enough to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. While Ohio state law currently requires a simple majority of voters to approve a ballot measure, the Republican-dominated state legislature is trying to push through its own ballot measure that would raise that threshold. at 60%.
after a long partisan fight which goes in the direction of . Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that officials must rewrite the proposed amendment that was to be decided in a special election on Aug. 8.
In addition to raising the bar to 60%, the measure known as Issue 1 would also make it harder to get a measure on the ballot in the first place, doubling the number of county signatures to be collected from to 88 compared to the current one. 44.
A series of victories for reproductive rights
Since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe a year ago, politicians and organizations advocating for abortion access have seen success in swing elections and even in some Republican-dominated states. usually at the ballot box. The first sign came in August 2022, when voters reportedly weakened abortion rights protections in the state constitution.
While Democrats narrowly lost the House in November, the 2022 midterms have historically gone well for a party that controls the presidency. Some Republican contenders in competitive races and ballot metrics. Across the eastern border in Ohio, Democrats succeeded in Pennsylvania and reversed the campaigns.
The victories continued into 2023, with the Virginia Senate remaining under Democratic control following a and a liberal Wisconsin judge who brought abortion to the fore.
Despite those losses, Republicans have gone down with former president and current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump recently.