Ohio's abortion rights amendment may reach Nov. ballot
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Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Dayton in May 2022. Photo: Whitney Saleski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
A movement to secure abortion rights in Ohio entered a key phase this month.
Driving the news: Two advocacy groups, Protect Choice Ohio and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, have filed the initial paperwork to place a constitutional amendment on this November's ballot that would protect abortion access.
Why it matters: The "citizen-initiated" amendment process gives activists the chance to circumvent a vehemently anti-abortion state government by letting Ohio voters directly decide the issue.
- If approved for the ballot, a majority vote would preserve statewide abortion access.
Catch up fast: The state's "heartbeat" law prohibiting abortion after six weeks of gestation went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June.
- Months later, a Hamilton County judge blocked enforcement of the law amid an ongoing legal challenge, meaning abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy remain legal.
- The state's appeal of that injunction could eventually go before the Ohio Supreme Court.
Details: The proposed amendment would prevent the state from blocking access to abortion treatment, miscarriage care, contraception and fertility treatment.
- It would allow for abortion to be prohibited after fetal viability is detected, with an exception if a doctor feels the life of the pregnant patient is in danger.
What's next: A few technical ballot steps will ensue, then organizers would have until July 5 to collect over 413,000 valid signatures from registered voters to put the amendment on the November ballot.
- The signatures must come from voters in at least half of the state's 88 counties, meaning they cannot all be collected in larger, bluer regions.
What they're saying: Christopher Devine, associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton, believes the amendment would pass as did a similar one in Michigan last year.
- "If you go back to the exit polls for the 2022 midterms, about 60% of Ohioans took a pro-choice position on abortion," Devine tells Axios Cleveland's Troy Smith. "That tells me if you put the issue on the ballot in November, it's likely to earn the majority vote it needs to pass."
The other side: Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis told The Cincinnati Enquirer that abortion rights opponents are "up for the challenge" and "have the resources available to win, guaranteed."
- And Republican lawmakers want to require a 60% threshold for future ballot amendments to pass instead of a simple majority — a proposal, its main backer has said, specifically designed to block amendments that would protect abortion rights.
Yes, but: A November vote on the abortion access coalition's amendment would take place before that raised threshold can theoretically be enacted.