Pro-abortion rights groups initiated the ballot measure in response to the six-week abortion ban that was passed and signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in April 2019. At that time, the law was blocked by the courts due to federal protections of abortion in the first trimester under Roe v. Wade.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June 2022, the six-week abortion ban has been under legal review by the state's courts.
Anti-abortion advocates campaigned ardently against the amendment's prohibition of state actions that "directly or indirectly [to] burden, penalize, or interfere with or discriminate against" a citizen's reproductive choices, saying this would nullify existing state laws regulating the controversial procedure.
"Issue One is not a resurrection of the status quo [under Roe v. Wade]," May Mailman, the vice president for legal, strategy and communications at RITE, told reporters ahead of Tuesday's vote.
"Because constitutional language supersedes regular statutes, Issue One would upend long-standing Ohio laws governing the abortion process, including laws governing late-term or particularly unethical abortion practices and laws governing parental notification," Mailman said.
Advocates of the amendment say that pro-abortion rights groups will not push against existing parental consent laws in Ohio, but Mailman said these laws could reasonably be interpreted as interference against children's rights if taken to court in the future.
DeWine has been an outspoken critic of the amendment in recent weeks, calling it too extreme for the Buckeye State.
"If you look at Issue 1, it's a radical proposal, and whether you're pro-choice or pro-life, it just goes much, much too far," DeWine said on CBS News's Face the Nation on Sunday.
In previous statements, DeWine has said that although the legislature can regulate abortion after the point of fetal viability, which is when the child can survive outside of the womb, the amendment allows a mother's physician to perform an abortion if carrying the pregnancy to completion would jeopardize her health.
"There is a wide exception written into this law, which talks about the health of the mother," DeWine said. "The Supreme Court, the United States has defined this extremely broadly — [it] can mean health, can mean something having to do with her income, it can have something to do with how many children she has, and again, it is the person performing the abortion in the clinic who’s going to make that determination, and there’s no review of [that]."
"Decisions around pregnancy, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care, are personal and private and should be left up to women and their families," the leading pro-abortion rights group in the state, Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, said. "This amendment is about who makes personal decisions for yourself and your family — you or the government."
While multiple state Supreme Courts have interpreted the privacy provisions in their respective constitutions to protect abortion rights, only three states, Vermont, California, and Michigan, have abortion rights enshrined explicitly in the text of their constitutions.
Ohioans voted on Tuesday to adopt murder into their state constitution.
Every swing state and then some will put this on their ballot for the general election.
We deserve all that is coming to us.
You mean they rigged another election again.
Yea and Desanctimonius is going to carry a bunch of purple states how? They’ll eat him alive with the abortion question. Are you for a 6 week federal abortion ban, “Im for whatever can get through the congress”, cut ad, play on repeat for 2 months.
It’s physically impossible for the democrats not to cheat when abortion is on the ballot.
Then on top of that...
Ohio becomes 24th state to legalize marijuana
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/ohio-becomes-24th-state-to-legalize-marijuana
Not that I support abortion in any way, shape, or form, what is especially egregious is the late term abortions.
Past a certain point in the pregnancy, if continuing the pregnancy is truly a threat to the mother’s life, the baby does not need to be butchered to save her life.
Advances in neonatal care have made saving a preterm baby much. much more successful. IF the mother’s life is truly in danger, deliver the baby early and out it in NICU.
But it doesn’t need to be slaughtered in such a barbaric way as abortion kills them. The techniques used to kill the unborn baby rival anything the Nazis or Hamas has done to the Jews.
Many women want sex without any consequences. That is not going to happen despite all the prescription abortions, antibiotics, and anti-depressants and women power cheerleading. The wrath of God is coming and will be deserved.
I’m not even able to think about dems, reps, courts, maga, or elections right now. All I can think about is thousands of baby deaths while my neighbors cheer it on. I’m heartbroken.
To think I served.
I urge side has equal numbers to their side on abortion. This wasn’t election cheating or demographics or anything else. This was because of us. Our side has become completely sidetracked in an internal war of our own creation. Trumpists won’t show up & vote for anything other than Trump & non Trumpists have all but abandoned ship. Our side isn’t showing up & voting for things that matter like this because we are sidetracked by internal battles & its all we ever freaking talk about. Hold up a mirror. Blame yourselves!!] 🙄
Congratulations young females — your commitment to killing has been recorded.