With a majority of 57 percent, Ohio voters refuse to change the rules of the game on the eve of a referendum on abortion rights.
In American politics, it’s not just the Trump circus that counts. Since the Supreme Court reopened the door to criminalizing abortion in 2021, the issue has been at the center of partisan struggles at the national and state levels.
The opposition of a large majority of Americans to radically restrictive Republican policies is an inescapable fact that Democrats have exploited to their advantage in 2022 and should continue to bank on for the 2024 election.
We saw an example of this Tuesday at an extraordinary summer poll in key state Ohio.
Abortion, a key issue
In Ohio, a state that voted Republican in the 2016 presidential election, the legislature is firmly controlled by Republicans. The partisan division of the constituencies actually gave them a concrete majority of 67 out of 99 seats with 58 percent of the vote in 2022.
After the Roe v. Wade of the Supreme Court, the Republican majority in Ohio, as in other Republican states, passed restrictive abortion laws and promised eventual near-total abolition.
In response, pro-abortion advocates have proposed a referendum to amend the country’s constitution. The amendment, which will be put to the referendum next November, would codify rights that have existed since 1973. Support for the measure hovers between 55 and 60 percent in the polls, including a sizeable portion of Republican voters.
A secret referendum
To thwart this amendment, elected Republicans relied on the advantage usually afforded them by low turnout in special elections held during the summer to covertly push for a change in the Democratic rules of the game. This amendment aimed to set the threshold for accepting constitutional amendments by referendum at 60 percent, making it extremely difficult to enforce such recognition of the right to abortion.
The campaign proved to be a foretaste of the autumn campaign, with strong financial involvement from national groups on both sides of the issue. Contrary to Republican expectations, turnout in this type of election was surprisingly high and No won.
gain for democracy
First, we remember this vote as a victory for democracy over those who seek to manipulate the institutions and rules of the democratic game to their advantage.
This victory is particularly significant as it is part of a response to the right-wing desire to abolish women’s long-taken for granted right to make their own reproductive health decisions.
This episode also signals to President Biden and the Democrats that through November 2024 they should better focus on the issues that truly matter to their constituents, independent voters and moderate Republicans, rather than getting carried away in the circus surrounding Donald Trump.
