A pro-abortion measure to amend the Ohio Constitution has received enough signatures to advance to a referendum in the state, advocates of the measure say.
The measure would declare abortion a constitutional right in the state of Ohio until the point of fetal viability, at which a baby has a substantial chance of surviving independently outside the womb. That point is generally considered to fall around 23 or 24 weeks of gestation, but some babies can survive outside the womb as early as 22 weeks.
The measure allows “abortion [to be] be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.”
In order to be placed on the ballot in Ohio, a proposal must garner at least 6 percent as many signatures from Ohio residents as there were votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election; in this case, roughly 413,000 signatures were needed.
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, the leaders of the effort, confirmed that they had enough signatures to bring the measure to the ballot in August, calling the effort “a demonstration of overwhelming grassroots support.”
“Today, we take a huge step forward in the fight for abortion access and reproductive freedom for all, to ensure that Ohioans and their families can make their own health care decisions without government interference,” said Lauren Blauvelt and Kellie Copeland of Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom.
“That’s how we get paid,” he said.
It’s not clear how widespread this practice was, or if it will pose challenges to proponents efforts to have the measure placed on the ballot.
Notably, the amendment does allow for prohibition of abortion after the point of viability, but does not contain constitutional prohibitions on abortion. It only allows for the legislature to pass such prohibitions, which is likely.
Efforts to have the measure placed on the ballot began in March, when proponents submitted the language of measure to the secretary of state and received the green light to move ahead with collecting signatures, as Ohio’s abortion laws remain in limbo owing to ongoing litigation.
The initiative was developed in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the federal protection of abortion and returned the issue to the states in June 2022.
In 2019, prior to the ruling, Ohio had passed a law that banned abortion in the state after an embryonic heartbeat could be detected, around the six-week mark. After the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, that law, which allows exceptions only in cases where the mother’s life is endangered, immediately went into effect.
Critics’ Concerns
Critics worry that the measure will strip parental rights over their children’s medical decisions and could expand legal protections for sex-change operations owing to ambiguities in the text of the initiative.The language of the measure—using the term “individual” with no distinction between an adult and a minor—has raised concerns among critics that it would strip parents of the right not only to have a say in whether their underage daughter has an abortion, but could even prevent parents being notified about such a procedure.
In an op-ed for National Review, Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Campbell Severino and Frank J. Scaturro, a former special counsel to the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, argued that the measure would “effectively obliterate most limits to abortion or sex-change surgery, among its other far-reaching consequences.”
Specifically, Ms. Severino and Mr. Scaturro pointed to a provision of the measure which reads, “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on: 1. contraception; 2. fertility treatment; 3. continuing one’s own pregnancy; 4. miscarriage care; and 5. abortion.”
“By explicitly defining such decisions as ‘not limited to’ the enumerated categories,” Ms. Severino and Mr. Scaturro wrote, “the proposal establishes its scope as sweeping.”
They said that a “natural reading” of the measure as laid out “would extend to any medical procedure that involves the human reproductive system, including sex-change surgery.”
Additionally, the two raised concerns that the measure could allow for even non-physicians who perform dangerous procedures like sex-change operations and abortions to be free from liability.
“The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either: 1. An individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or 2. A person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right,” the measure reads.
Bellwether for Abortion Attitudes
If the measure does, as its proponents say, have the signatures needed to come to a general vote later this year, the referendum will serve as another bellwether trial regarding Americans’ attitudes on abortion.Previous U.S. referendums on abortion have given abortion advocates unexpected wins in deep-red states like Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana.
In August 2022 voters in Kansas—one of the most Republican states in the union—rejected a constitutional amendment that would have declared that the Kansas Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion, as well as opening the door for Kansas legislators to prosecute individuals involved in an abortion. Additionally, that measure would have declared that Kansas is not required to fund abortions.
Over 59 percent of voters in the state rejected the proposal.
Likewise, in the Republican stronghold of Kentucky, more than 52 percent of voters rejected a similar proposal that would have declared that the Kentucky Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion.
The same day, voters in Montana also rejected a proposal that would have opened the door to criminal penalties for physicians who failed to take all necessary measures to keep a baby alive after surviving an abortion attempt.
Democrats, owing to these wins, consider abortion a winning issue for their party over Republicans, who they portray as extreme on abortion.
The Ohio measure comes as the former key swing-state has shifted increasingly rightward in recent years.
Whether successful or not, the vote could provide further insights into Americans’ attitudes on abortion, and will likely be watched closely by Republican and Democrat strategists alike in preparation for the 2024 elections.
