November vote could give Ohio among the strongest abortion protections in the region
Last week, Ohio voters rejected Issue 1. This was a constitutional amendment put forth by abortion opponents in the state legislature to make it harder for Ohio voters to enshrine abortion protections in the Ohio Constitution.
After this vote, the next big policy decision for Ohio around abortion protections will be the “Ohio Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative,” which Ohio voters will decide on in November.
This initiative will establish a right for Ohio residents to make and carry out their own reproductive decisions. This will include the right to abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing pregnancy.
The bill puts specific limits on how the state can restrict this right, in particular only allowing the state to restrict abortion after the point of fetal viability, which is at about 24 weeks. It also specifically prohibits restriction of abortion in any case where abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.
Currently, Ohio has a six-week abortion ban on the books which has been frozen by the courts. The current practical limit on abortion is up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, the threshold that existed when Roe v Wade was the law of the land. This means that Ohio would likely have more abortion protections under this new change than it did before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/08/14/november-vote-could-give-ohio-among-the-strongest-abortion-protections-in-the-region/