Proponents of an Ohio abortion access amendment that will be on the November ballot feel confident that it will pass following the failure of Issue 1, a measure that would have made it more challenging to amend the Ohio state Constitution.
Issue 1 was decisively defeated by Ohio voters in a special election on Aug. 8 after millions of dollars in ad spending poured in from out of state on both sides. That trend is expected to continue as the focus has shifted to the November ballot measure that will enshrine abortion access in the state’s founding document if approved.
Issue 1 failed by a 57.01 percent to 42.99 percent margin. Had it been approved, the threshold for adopting constitutional amendments would have increased from a simple majority, or 50 percent plus 1, to a supermajority, which is 60 percent. Supporters of the “Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” believe that the proposed amendment for November will have similar success because of the results from the Aug. 8 special election.
“The 111-year-old process tried and true in Ohio will continue to be the process for this core issue that opponents of abortion have said they wanted returned to the states. And now, this decision is going to be made by the state of Ohio and the voters of Ohio come November,“ Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, said after Issue 1’s initial defeat. ”It’s absolutely appropriate that it’s decided by the majority of Ohioans, and Ohioans are not beholden to the views of a 40 percent minority.”
In July, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, certified that Ohioans United for Reproductive Freedom submitted about 496,000 valid signatures for the measure to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The amendment, if passed, will allow residents to make their own decisions about reproductive interventions, including contraception and abortion. It will also ban the state from prohibiting or interfering with the “voluntary exercise of this right,” except when the state shows “that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.”
Under the initiative, the state could still prevent abortion after fetal viability, which is generally at about 22 to 24 weeks. This represents “the point in a pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures,” according to the measure’s description. Under existing state law, abortion is illegal after 21 weeks and six days.
However, the proposed amendment would prohibit the state from banning abortion when the procedure “is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health” in the professional judgment of a physician.
In 2019, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the “Heartbeat Bill” into law. Also called the six-week ban because it criminalizes abortion if cardiac activity is detected in the embryo, which generally happens at six weeks of gestation, the bill went into effect for 82 days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Planned Parenthood and Ohio abortion clinics filed suit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, challenging the Heartbeat Law in full and seeking a preliminary injunction, which was granted. A state district appeals court later upheld that decision. The Republican-majority Ohio Supreme Court is currently reviewing the case.
“I think the law is sound,” Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said of the Heartbeat Law. “I think the Ohio Supreme Court will rule in our favor, ultimately. That may be before November or after November, but we’ve got to win first in November.”
Issue 1 Sets the Tone
If the survey numbers translate to the ballot box, the defeat of Issue 1 will prove even more relevant.In 2022, voters in California and Michigan amended their state constitutions to enshrine access to abortion before fetal viability as a right. Meanwhile, Vermont amended its state constitution to enshrine the most radical option of allowing abortions at any point during pregnancy. Ballot measures limiting abortion access were defeated in Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana.
Campaign finance reports related to Issue 1 show that the pro-Issue 1 Protect Our Constitution received $4 million of its $4.8 million in donations from Illinois business owner and billionaire Richard Uihlein.
The group One Person One Vote led the opposition to Issue 1. About 85 percent of the $14.8 million in contributions to the organization was received by dark money groups such as the Washington-based Sixteen Thirty Fund.
In the state, the pro-life organization Pro Women Ohio launched a $5 million statewide television advertising campaign in March to oppose the November ballot measure. The group plans to spend at least $25 million on advertising to defeat the proposal, according to Pro Women Ohio spokesperson Amy Natoce.
Issue 1 Defeat Not Synonymous With Pro-Life Defeat: Advocates
Many Ohio conservatives who supported Issue 1 criticized the Ohio Republican Party and county GOP groups statewide for not being vocal enough leading up to the Aug. 8 special election. That belief was echoed by leaders of the group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.“There should be no pro-life defeat message [from Ohio],” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the organization’s president, told reporters of the messaging surrounding the failure of Issue 1. “[The vote] was not a test of pro-life [in Ohio]. This was a failure on the part of the GOP.”
Ohio Republicans and the business community didn’t effectively inform voters about the other implications of toughening the rules for constitutional amendments, including threats to gun rights, Billy Valentine, the group’s vice president for political affairs, told media members.
He said that “the Ohio GOP did not do its job ahead of early voting.”
Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood generated abundant support against Issue 1 with a cleverly crafted “broad, nonpartisan, populist” message that even attracted some supporters of former President Donald Trump, Mr. Valentine said.
Issue 1 was publicly opposed by a bipartisan group of four former Ohio governors—Republicans Bob Taft and John Kasich, and Democrats Dick Celeste and Ted Strickland.
Some Republicans blamed outside money for the defeat. More than 80 percent of the contributions for and against Issue 1 flooded in from out-of-state donors, according to Ballotpedia.
“This was a fight worth having, and tonight, we sent a message that we were close and will continue efforts to protect the Ohio Constitution from wealthy out-of-state special interests,” Ohio state Senate President Matt Huffman said.
“This was a heavy lift, and we needed ‘all hands-on deck,’ which disappointingly, we didn’t have. The opposition had twice the money coming from New York, California, and D.C., and a head start. We really needed to turn out our base and needed more help doing that from current and former elected officials.”
Mr. LaRose is running against state Sen. Matt Dolan and entrepreneur Bernie Moreno in the 2024 Ohio U.S. Senate Republican primary. The winner will likely face longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in the general election. He said that a “giant ‘for sale sign’ still hangs on Ohio’s constitution.”
“Unfortunately, we were dramatically outspent by dark money billionaires from California to New York. Ohioans will see the devastating impact of this vote soon enough,” Mr. LaRose said.
“The radical activists that opposed Issue 1 are already planning amendments to shut parents out of a child’s life-altering medical procedure, force job-killing wage mandates on small businesses, prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting their families, and remove critical protections for our first responders.
“I’ve said for months now that there’s an assault coming on our constitution, and that hasn’t changed. I’m just getting started in the fight to protect Ohio’s values.”
Wes Farno, an Ohio-based Republican political strategist, believes that churches should be more active and vocal in their efforts to defeat the amendment to enshrine abortion access.
“Churches need to be creative, step outside of the box, and mobilize new voters,” Mr. Farno said. “Also, conservatives have to talk to people they normally wouldn’t talk to—such as having conversations at suburban women’s organizations and with people in the African-American community.
“It’s important to inform voters about what the amendment is and what it isn’t.
“The left was successful in confusing people about Issue 1, and that was a reason why it failed. We need to get out right away and make sure people are clear about what will happen if this amendment passes, and we need to encourage early voting.”
Mr. DeWine and Bishop Edward Malesic, of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, will headline a fundraiser to generate support to defeat the abortion access amendment.
Proceeds from the event—to be held in August at the home of Umberto Fedeli, a businessman and prominent GOP political donor—will be donated to Protect Women Ohio.
