Abortion rights supporters celebrate winning the referendum on the so-called Issue 1, a measure to enshrine a right to abortion in Ohios Constitution, in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 7, 2023. (Photo by MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
Ohio became the seventh state where voters decided to protect abortion access after the landmark ruling and was the only state to consider a statewide abortion rights question this year.
“The future is bright, and tonight we can celebrate this win for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights,” Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, which led support for the amendment, told a jubilant crowd of supporters.
“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,” she said in a statement.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued statements celebrating the amendment’s win, saying efforts to ban or severely restrict abortion represent a minority view across the country.
Ohio’s constitutional amendment, on the ballot as Issue 1, included some of the most protective language for abortion access of any statewide ballot initiative since the Supreme Court’s ruling. Opponents had argued that the amendment would threaten parental rights, allow unrestricted gender surgeries for minors and revive “partial birth” abortions, which are federally banned.
Before the Ohio vote, statewide initiatives in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont had either affirmed abortion access or turned back attempts to undermine the right.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said her group would focus on promoting “compassionate pro-life messages for women and their children” to counter what she labeled a “campaign of fear” from abortion-rights supporters.
Canvassers hold pro-life signs at Columbus Christian Center ahead of Election Day during a pro-life canvasing meeting in Columbus, Ohio on November 4, 2023. (Photo by Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images)
Republicans and the state-level anti-abortion groups that worked to defeat the amendment remained defiant in the wake of Tuesday’s vote. Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens said Issue 1’s approval “is not the end of the conversation.”
“We don’t have time to lick our wounds,” said Mark Harrington, president of the Ohio anti-abortion group Created Equal. “In the coming days, we’ll process what led to this defeat. But if abortion doesn’t stop, neither do we.”
Pamphlets lay on a table during a pro-choice canvassing meeting ahead of the general election in Columbus, Ohio on November 5, 2023. (Photo by Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images)
Anti-abortion groups, with the help of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, tested a variety of messages to try to defeat the amendment, primarily focusing on the idea that the proposal was too extreme for the state. The supporters’ campaign centered on a message of keeping government out of families’ private affairs.
Voters overwhelmingly defeated that special election question, setting the stage for the high-stakes fall abortion campaign.
Associated Press writers Samantha Hendrickson in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and Michelle L. Price and Christine Fernando in Washington contributed to this report.
