Ohio’s Abortion Fight Funded by Millions in Out-of-State Money

The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. Shutterstock

Filings show that Ohio’s heated and expensive battle over abortion—which will be on the ballot this fall—is in large part funded by money from outside of the state, including from Washington, D.C., New York, and Virginia.

Much of the pro-life funding has come from the Virginia-based Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America organization, while a big portion of the pro-abortion funding has come from Washington, D.C.-based organizations related to the progressive Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Ohio’s case has caught national attention, as the state has a pro-life Republican governor and Republican-majority legislature, but a measure that would enshrine abortion as a right in the state constitution is now on the table.

In 2019, the state passed a “heartbeat” bill that bans abortion around the six-week mark, which only went into effect after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling three years later. Almost immediately, the law was challenged and tied up in the courts.

Similar battles are being fought across the nation as legislatures pass abortion restriction laws only to never have them take effect, and these states are watching Ohio closely as the only state this year to vote on the issue.

“As goes Ohio, so goes the rest of the nation,” Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said.

Awareness, Signatures

The main pro-abortion group pushing for the referendum is Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, which has raised more than $8.9 million, and the main pro-life group opposing the measure is Protect Women Ohio, which has raised more than $10 million.

Of the Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom’s $8.9 million, $2.7 million came from Washington, D.C., $2.1 million came from New York’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood branch funds, and $2.2 million came from ALCU, Planned Parenthood, and other pro-abortion organizations in Ohio.

Protect Women Ohio received $8.3 million of its $10 million from Virginia.

Filings show that while most donors are based in Ohio, most funding comes from major organizations out of state. The pro-abortion group received more small donor support from state residents, while the pro-life group received fewer donations with bigger dollar figures.

Protect Women Ohio has spent the majority of funding on advertising, more than $8 million, particularly broadcast advertising. A great deal of Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom’s expenditure thus far has been for a professional signature collection service, totaling about $6.6 million.

Ohio has a population of 11.78 million, and for abortion to become a constitutional right in Ohio, voters need to show support at a few stages.

In order to put forward the referendum, the cause first needed to have signatures from at least 44 of the 88 counties, and in each of the 44 counties, there needs to be enough signatures to count for 3 percent of the total vote cast for the governor in the last election. That number was 413,487, which pro-abortion advocates met. ALCU announced that advocates turned in more than 700,000 signatures, of which 496,000 were validated.

Now the state is set to vote next week on a measure that would require 60 percent of the vote in order to change the state constitution, up from a textbook majority of 50 percent plus one. It also would require 5 percent, up from 3 percent, of signatures from 44 of 88 counties to put forward an amendment. This is known as “Issue 1.”

Whether Issue 1 passes next week will determine how many votes will be necessary to pass November’s ballot measure on abortion.

Funding Issue 1

Funding backing the push to raise the vote threshold comes in large part from Protect Our Constitution, which reportedly raised nearly all of its $4.85 million from Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein’s $4 million contribution.

Fighting against Issue 1 is a committee called One Person One Vote, which raised $14.8 million, with only 16 percent of it given by Ohio residents. Big contributions came from progressive organizations like Sixteen Thirty Fund, Tides Foundation, Ohio Education Association, and National Education Association.

While the vote takes place imminently, on Aug. 8, polls don’t clearly predict whether it will pass.

A USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University survey found that the majority, 58 percent, supported a constitutional amendment to guarantee access to abortion, and nearly the same amount, 57 percent, were against making it harder to change the constitution.

The same week, a Ohio Northern University poll found that voters were evenly split 42-41 percent supporting and opposing the measure, with pollsters noting that undecided voters often vote against a measure they aren’t clear on.

Correction: In the second paragraph of the second section, the groups listed were misidentified in regards to their stance on abortion. The organizations contributing to Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom are pro-abortion. The Epoch Times regrets the error.