Yesterday, Ohio voters added the right to access abortion to their state constitution. This is an advance for Pro-Choice voters, 16 months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in early 2022. Issue 1 in Ohio is an example of a change in the law made by voters through referendum, as opposed to a law made by the legislature. Issue 1 was passed by vote of the people, which is a direct choice that the people of Ohio made, according to sophomore Chiara Ferro.
“This vote is different from the one that overturned Roe v. Wade in the sense that it was the voice of the people,” Ferro said. “Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court and Issue 1 was passed by the vote of people in Ohio which shows a clear stance these people take on this topic of women’s reproductive health rights,”
According to previous elections, Ohio has been a red state for the past two elections. However, the passing of Issue 1 proposes the question if abortion has any political party influence according to Medium. Abortion is becoming a topic that is addressed within the populous rather than within political parties according to sophomore Claire Li.
“I don’t think this law is going to change the fact that Ohio is a red state,” Li said. “Instead, this law change reflects the idea that abortion laws are expanding past political party boundaries and going into a person’s individual opinions separate from their political identity,”
Ohio’s Issue 1 is a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. According to OhioSecretary.gov when passed, the amendment would establish, ‘an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion’.The passing of Issue 1 creates legal protections for anyone who assists a person with receiving reproductive medical treatment.
“I definitely think that the protection given to those involved in giving or receiving this kind of healthcare will limit the number of unsafe procedures that were happening before,” junior Ella Andrejeck said. “Everyone can think what they want about Issue 1, but the thing it that it will make these things safer for everyone,”
Groups on both sides of the abortion debate spent millions of dollars campaigning in the August referendum in Ohio according to BallotPedia. Another ballot was proposed that made it harder to amend the state constitution in the future — working to raise the threshold to 60% rather than a simple majority. This ballot lost in August which paved the way for this amendment according to Ferro.
“This ballot was trying to make it harder for laws, like this abortion law, to be changed,” Ferro said. “The fact that it didn’t get approved made way for Issue 1 by demonstrating how Ohio wanted to handle these upcoming elections.”
