Ohio has voted to protect the right to abortion in the state’s constitution, a major victory for reproductive rights.
Seventeen months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, residents of the Republican-controlled state firmly backed an amendment that enshrined access to the procedure and a range of other reproductive rights.
The outcome of the closely watched referendum is a huge victory for Democrats, who hope to capitalize on the issue in the 2024 elections.
Abortion is legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, but the GOP has fought to enact a six-week ban following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022.
The ballot initiative in Ohio, simply called “Issue 1,” affirms the right to make decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatments, miscarriage care and pregnancy.
Ohio has voted to protect the right to abortion in the state’s constitution, a major victory for reproductive rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade
It still allows some late-term abortions to be banned unless the mother’s life is in danger or a doctor allows the procedure to go ahead.
Ohio joins voters in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont who have affirmed abortion rights or voted against undermining them.
The state made national headlines just weeks after the Dobbs decision, when a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio was forced to go to Indiana to have an abortion because terminating her pregnancy would be criminal in the state are.
In August, Ohio voters rejected a measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution.
This measure paved the way for abortion to be put on the ballot.
Exit polls from CNN showed that most Ohio voters were angry about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Six in 10 voters said they had negative feelings about the judge’s decision, while four in 10 said they were “angry.”
The majority of residents supported an amendment that would enshrine access to the procedure and a range of other reproductive rights in the Republican-controlled state.
Abortion rights advocates mark outside the Hamilton County Courthouse in Ohio after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022
Last year, abortion rights advocacy groups scored a series of victories by putting referendums on abortion on the agenda, including in conservative states.
In addition to Tuesday’s amendment in Ohio, similar ballot measures are advancing in several states for 2024, including swing states Arizona and Florida.
Anti-abortion forces campaigned against the Ohio amendment as too extreme, while abortion rights groups warned that rejecting it would pave the way for a strict ban.
Ohio’s Republican-controlled Legislature previously approved a six-week limit, but the law has been put on hold pending the outcome of a legal challenge before the conservative Supreme Court.