Abortion rights to be decided at the ballot box after Ohio voters reject Issue 1

Ohio voters issued a temporary reprieve to abortion-rights supporters Tuesday when they rejected a proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution.

But an expensive, nasty fight over abortion access in Ohio is only beginning.

Roughly 57% of voters said no to Issue 1, according to unofficial results. If passed, the measure would have required 60% of voters to enact new amendments − instead of a simple majority − and changed the signature-gathering process for citizen amendments.

Tuesday's election was aimed squarely at defeating the abortion rights measure in November. GOP politicians said as much.

Republican state Rep. Brian Stewart, wrote in a letter to fellow GOP lawmakers last year: “After decades of Republicans’ work to make Ohio a pro-life state, the Left intends to write abortion on demand into Ohio’s Constitution. If they succeed, all the work we accomplished by multiple Republican majorities will be undone…”

The 60% threshold was strategic as well. In 2022, Michigan approved an abortion rights measure with 56.7% of the vote. Recent polling in Ohio suggests nearly 58% of voters support the reproductive rights proposal.

But in the end, Ohioans rejected Republicans' attempt to change the rules for constitutional amendments.

No easy victory

Issue 1's defeat is good news for backers of the abortion-rights measure, but it doesn’t ensure an easy victory in November.

Ohio is the only state voting on abortion rights this year, making it the epicenter of the fight over reproductive rights just over a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Since that decision, voters in Michigan, California and Vermont approved measures to protect abortion access while voters in Kentucky, Kansas and Montana rejected stricter abortion restrictions.

"Now, Ohioans will turn their focus to rejecting extremism and government control to ensure families have the freedom to make decisions that are best for them," said Rhiannon Carnes, spokeswoman for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights. "Ohioans believe that abortion is a personal, private decision that should be up to them and their families without government meddling in their business."

Tens of millions of dollars will be spent on both sides of this political battle, including out-of-state money and secretive dark money. Supporters of the amendment estimate they will spend about $35 million on their campaign; opponents haven’t thrown out a number. Both groups were also active in the campaign for and against Issue 1.

The ads will be pointed and personal. Opponents of the measure have already focused on parental rights and anti-transgender advertising to paint the proposal as too extreme for Ohioans. They are targeting not only people who oppose abortion access but those who might back it under certain circumstances.

Proponents must convince Ohioans that this proposal is measured and tailored to a Midwest voting bloc largely uncomfortable with abortions later in pregnancy.

Support for abortion rights doesn’t break down perfectly along political party lines and often exists on a spectrum with voters backing abortions at a set point in pregnancy or under certain circumstances.

Statewide, nearly 58% of Ohio voters said they would back the abortion rights amendment, including 81% of Democrats and 32% of Republicans, according to a recent USA TODAY Network Ohio/Suffolk University poll.

What would the abortion amendment do?

The proposed amendment would protect access to abortion and other reproductive decisions through viability, which is when a doctor determines a fetus can survive outside the uterus with reasonable measures. That is typically 23 to 24 weeks into pregnancy. Abortions could be performed after that point to save the patient’s life or health.

That stands in contrast to the slew of abortion bans and restrictions Ohio’s GOP-controlled Legislature has passed over the past decade. The most restrictive was a ban on doctors performing abortions about six weeks after someone's last menstrual period.

That 2019 law was in effect for 82 days following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022 sending abortion decisions back to the states. Fewer patients had abortions in Ohio during that 2 1/2 month period; about 400 traveled out-of-state to have an abortion.

That law is now on hold as the Ohio Supreme Court − which is dominated by Republicans − reviews some aspects of the case. It’s not clear when the justices will issue a decision.

"I think the law is sound," Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said. "I think the Ohio Supreme Court will rule in our favor, ultimately. That may be before November or after November, but we've got to win first in November."

In the meantime, Republican lawmakers have not passed anything to either clarify that 2019 law or eliminate abortion entirely. Gov. Mike DeWine encouraged lawmakers to look at whether that law, which he signed, was "sustainable."

It remains to be seen whether that's on the Legislature's priority list this fall.