Ohio residents voted on Tuesday to approve a ballot initiative amending the state constitution to include a right to abortion, becoming the seventh state to adopt such a measure after the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. Ohio Issue 1, the “Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion” initiative, passed with 56 percent support in the referendum vote, enshrining measures that pro-life activists argue go even further than what Roe v. Wade allowed.
According to the text of the proposed amendment, “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on: contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” The language presented on the ballot (and also provided ahead of the vote on an issue document from the Ohio Secretary of State) describes the amendment’s purpose as follows:
Establish in the Constitution of the State of Ohio an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion;
Create legal protections for any person or entity that assists a person with receiving reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion;
Prohibit the State from directly or indirectly burdening, penalizing, or prohibiting abortion before an unborn child is determined to be viable, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means;
Grant a pregnant woman’s treating physician the authority to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether an unborn child is viable;
Only allow the State to prohibit an abortion after an unborn child is determined by a pregnant woman’s treating physician to be viable and only if the physician does not consider the abortion necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health; and
Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician’s determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.
Ohio Issue 1 was backed by several major pro-abortion groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Ohio Democratic Party, the Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, and the Ohio Women’s Alliance. Together, these groups pumped a combined $18 million into the state, arguing that reproductive rights and abortion access were under threat from “extremists.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke out in favor of the amendment and joined in celebration of its passage.
Tonight, Americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms – and democracy won.
In Ohio, voters protected access to reproductive health in their state constitution. Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to…
Today, voters in Ohio approved a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom. They stood with the majority of Americans who believe that politicians should not interfere with a woman's right to make decisions about her own body.
Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/WLGYYjeQwt
However, pro-life groups and many of Ohio’s leading Republicans argued that the “rights” provided by Issue 1 are far more extreme than any previous abortion access legislation. The guidelines the amendment establishes will allow for abortion-on-demand up to the point of birth, which circumvents federal law. Additionally, the open-ended protections of “reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion,” can also be applied to gender transitions and related procedures—all of which will now be done without parental consent.
“If a voter is comfortable with abortion up until the time of birth, they’re probably going to be okay with this amendment,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ahead of the referendum. “If they’re comfortable with parents not being involved in the most important decision their daughter will ever make or certainly has made up until that point in her life…then they should vote for this.”
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance also attempted to encourage voters to strike down the measure, writing in an X post: “People do in fact abort healthy late term pregnancies. Issue 1 doesn’t make it illegal to have a miscarriage. Think for yourself and vote no!”
Today is Election Day in Ohio. Vote NO on Issue 1!
There’s been a lot of lies out there from the Yes campaign. People do in fact abort healthy late term pregnancies. Issue 1 doesn’t make it illegal to have a miscarriage. Think for yourself and vote no!
After Tuesday’s vote, abortion activists celebrated publicly, declaring it a victory for “bodily autonomy and reproductive rights.” In the eyes of Democrats, the Ohio referendum—the only such vote held this year, and in a “red state” that favored Donald Trump by 8 points in 2020—is an indicator of public sentiment on what will likely be a key issue in the 2024 election.
“When we’re able to see how our messaging impacts independents and Republicans and persuades them that this fundamental freedom is important to protect in Ohio, that’s going to be something that we can implement looking at 2024,” said Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All.
The vote on Ohio Issue 1 was bundled with a referendum on a second initiative regarding the legalization of marijuana in the state. This measure also passed with 56 percent support.
Both measures are set to take effect within 30 days of the election.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s explainer of Issues 1 and 2 can be read below in its entirety.
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