Ohio Voters Pass Abortion Rights Amendment
Following a vote Tuesday, Ohio has become the seventh US state where voters approved of protecting abortion since the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade last year....
Facts
- Following a vote Tuesday, Ohio has become the seventh US state where voters approved of protecting abortion since the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade last year.1
- As of early Wednesday, with more than 99% of the precincts reporting, Ohio voters had passed the Issue 1 constitutional amendment with 56.35% support (2.14M voters).2
- Brought by several reproductive rights advocacy groups, the amendment will enshrine abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing one’s own pregnancy into the Ohio state constitution.2
- Under the amendment, the state can ban abortion after viability, except when it’s considered necessary to protect the life and health of the mother. The patient's doctor is empowered to determine if the fetus is viable.3
- Previously, ballot measures to deny abortion rights to constituents were voted down in Kentucky and Kansas. Attempts to codify abortion rights next year are being planned for Arizona, South Dakota, Missouri, and Florida.4
- Elsewhere Tuesday, Democrats in Virginia gained control of the state legislature, which will probably prevent passage of a law endorsed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to prohibit abortion after 15 weeks.5
Sources: 1Associated Press, 2Ohio Capital Journal, 3CBS, 4The New York Times and 5NPR Online News.
Narratives
- Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News. This is not what the voters of Ohio truly want, but outside advocacy groups poured millions into the state to defeat pro-life voices. This bill goes much further than even Roe v. Wade did. The pro-choice side dares to call opponents of this bill extremists, but they're the ones supporting unethical choices. This movement must be stopped before spreading to other states.
- Democratic narrative, as provided by Axios. Not only is this what the people of Ohio want, but Ohioans basically voted in favor of it twice because Republicans in August attempted to raise the threshold for necessary support to pass this amendment and they lost that special election. Securing women's bodily autonomy will rightly spread from state to state because the US is a democracy where the government shouldn't control a woman's right to choose.
