(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Ohio pro-choice groups submit proposal to get abortion rights amendment on 2023 ballot [1]

['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-02-22  

“We simply cannot rely on our legislators or even ultimately on the courts to secure this freedom in the long run,” said Jessie Hill, a professor who has worked for Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. “We have to do it for ourselves.”

Despite efforts to ban abortion after six weeks, abortion is legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy in Ohio. Previous attempts at a strict abortion ban were blocked indefinitely by a judge.

The proposed ballot measure seeks to secure the status quo by giving Ohio voters a chance to decide on abortion rights themselves. According to Bloomberg, the groups are looking to have the same success similar measures had in the 2022 midterm elections, during which voters across the country expressed that they did not want near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

At least two other states, including New York and South Dakota, are hoping to get more measures on the ballot in 2024 as well.

With similar language to a constitutional amendment Michigan voters approved in November, the proposed measure would require restrictions imposed past a fetus’ viability outside the womb to be based on evidence of patient health and safety benefits, the Associated Press reported. By creating state-level protections for abortion access, the proposed amendment would prevent future bans and narrower restrictions from being implemented.

According to Ballotpedia, while four other states including Kansas, California, Montana, and Vermont either ensured those rights or rejected constitutional restrictions on abortion access in November, five states are set to vote either to restrict or guarantee the right to abortion between now and next year.

Advocates are confident that Ohio residents will uphold abortion rights given the chance due to the number of those who express their support for reproductive rights and health access.

"If you go back to the exit polls for the 2022 midterms, about 60% of Ohioans took a pro-choice position on abortion," Christopher Devine, associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton, told Axios. "That tells me if you put the issue on the ballot in November, it's likely to earn the majority vote it needs to pass."

According to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of over 90,000 voters across the country, 59% of Ohio voters believe abortion should generally be legal while only 7% say abortion should be illegal all of the time.

“Our common sense amendment will restore the rights and protections that were destroyed when Roe was overturned,” said Dr. Lauren Beene, executive director of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights. “It will preserve the doctor-patient relationship and empower all people to make their own reproductive health care decisions without interference from the government, lobbyists and politicians.”

Those behind the proposal include individuals of various backgrounds including patients, doctors, reproductive rights experts, health and justice leaders, and grassroots activists, the AP reported.

According to the AP, the move to add the measure to the constitution follows several attempts by state lawmakers in Republican-dominated spaces to make it more difficult to amend the Ohio constitution, including raising the threshold of votes necessary to approve changes from 50% to 60%.

The proposal also follows the announcement of a coalition of 20 governors who have vowed to take action to protect abortion rights across the country.

RELATED STORY: At least 20 Democratic governors form an alliance to protect abortion rights

Of course, Republican officials and anti-abortion organizations have vowed to prevent the measure from becoming an amendment. Claiming the proposal coerces women into unwanted abortions, advocates and organizations like Ohio Right to Life, the state’s oldest anti-abortion group, pledged to launch what it called “the largest grassroots initiative to protect women and children in Ohio’s history,” the AP reported. The outlet noted that others including Cincinnati Right to Life even sent fundraising and volunteer recruitment emails in anticipation of the amendment’s submission.

As of this report, at least 13 states have current bans on abortion that are almost complete. According to Bloomberg, the average American now lives 275 miles further from an abortion facility than before the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/22/2154404/-Ohio-pro-choice-groups-submit-proposal-to-get-abortion-rights-amendment-on-2023-ballot

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/