Ohio voters approved an amendment that would make abortion legal up to birth in some cases in an election Tuesday, multiple outlets have reported.
Votes in favor of the amendment outnumber those opposed by 57.7% to 42.3% with 40% of votes counted, according to the New York Times. Votes in favor outnumber those opposed by 57.7% to 42.3% with 37.5% of votes counted, according to The Washington Post. Both outlets project the amendment to pass.
The amendment now overrides a six-week abortion ban which was allowed to go into effect in the state following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center.
“Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on: contraception; fertility treatment; continuing one’s own pregnancy; miscarriage care; and abortion,” the amendment reads.
The amendment allows abortion to be prohibited after “fetal viability,” which is the point at the pregnancy when a doctor decides the unborn baby has a “significant” likelihood of surviving outside the womb. (RELATED: 911 Call Reveals Tense Moments After Botched Abortion Sends Bleeding Woman To Hospital)
“The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either: An individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or; A person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right, unless the State demonstrates 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.”
COLUMBUS, OHIO – NOVEMBER 3: Titus Meyer (R), and Elizabeth McCulfor (L), employees of anti-abortion organization Created Equal, walk with daughter Willow on November 3, 2023 in Canal Winchester, Ohio. Ohioans will vote on Issue 1, officially titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” which would codify reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution, including contraception, fertility treatment and the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability while permitting restrictions after. (Photo by Andrew Spear/Getty Images)
“Ohio’s resounding support for this constitutional amendment reaffirms Democratic priorities and sends a strong message to the state GOP that reproductive rights are non-negotiable,” the Democrat Legislative Campaign Committee said in a statement provided to the Caller. “Across the country, Republicans are dead-set on restricting fundamental freedoms such as abortion rights while the DLCC is dedicated to putting Democrats in office to protect these rights.”
Opponents of the proposal argued that the amendment would strike down parental consent laws surrounding abortion, placing young women at risk of undergoing dangerous procedures without their parents’ knowledge.
“Issue 1 passed because abortion activists and outside Democrat donors ran a campaign of fear to Ohio voters: vote for this ballot measure or women will die,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement. “Their pervasive lie that women will die without Issue 1 was propped up by massive ad spending, funded by George Soros and a left-wing media machine which operated like Planned Parenthood’s PR department.”
“There have been many valuable lessons learned from Issue 1. Moving forward in states where abortion will be on the ballot in 2024, pro-life, pro-woman coalitions will need to devote more resources to compassionate pro-life messages for women and their children, combatting the campaign of fear from the other side.”
In August, Ohio voters rejected an attempt to raise the threshold for amending the state constitution. The measure would have raised the threshold from 50 percent to 60 percent, making it harder for pro-abortion activists to rally the support necessary to enshrine abortion in the state’s constitution.
Michigan voted to add an amendment to its state constitution by a margin of more than 10 points that will allow abortion up to 24 weeks during the 2022 midterm elections.
