The Midwestern state of Ohio must decide on Tuesday whether or not to include the right to abortion in its constitution. This is a test vote designed to allow both camps to adjust their national strategy on this key issue before the 2024 presidential election.
Almost a year and a half ago, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade,” who guaranteed American women’s federal right to abortion for half a century.
The question therefore came back to the states. Some pushed to restrict or even ban abortion, while others, on the contrary, strengthened its protections.
A law has come into force in Ohio that bans most abortions – even those involving rape or incest – once a heartbeat can be detected. That means around six weeks, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
This text is currently on hold due to a legal dispute.
Until a decision is made, it is still possible to have an abortion in Ohio until about 22 weeks of pregnancy. But in the short time the extremely restrictive law was in effect, a 10-year-old girl who was pregnant after a rape had to travel to the neighboring state of Indiana for an abortion, a case that shocked the country.
Medical decisions
Voting ends Tuesday night, but Ohio voters have been voting early for weeks.
This involves saying “yes” or “no” to an amendment to the local constitution submitted by a pro-abortion citizens’ group. The latter stipulates that every individual “has the right to make and implement their own decisions,” including abortion, contraception and treatment related to fertility or miscarriage.
However, the text stipulates that abortion can be prohibited once the fetus is considered viable outside the uterus. However, such an abortion cannot be banned if the doctor comes to the conclusion that the woman’s life or health is in danger, the proposed amendment continues.
Several other votes on abortion last year ended in a victory for the pro-abortion camp, as in Kansas, surprising Republicans who had to question their message.
The Ohio vote is therefore an opportunity for both camps to refine or reformulate their strategy heading into the 2024 presidential election.
Proponents of “Topic 1” — the name of the amendment — have focused their campaign on the need to prevent government interference in “personal medical” decisions.
And to add weight to this speech, the Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights coalition called out a religious figure in one of its campaign ads.
“As a pastor, I have counseled families on the most important personal decisions, even abortion. Abortion is a private family decision. The state must stay out of the family’s decision-making process,” says Reverend Tim Ahrens.
Abortion opponents like the Protect Women Ohio coalition call the amendment “extreme.”
“I know Ohioans are divided on the issue of abortion. But whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice, Issue 1 simply isn’t working for Ohio,” the state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, said in a video.
“Topic 1 simply goes too far” because it would allow abortions “at any point during pregnancy,” his wife added in the same clip — a claim that was denied by the opposing camp and denounced as disinformation.
The vote in Ohio will be watched all the more closely because that state has long been considered a “swing state” – one of those crucial states as it swings between Democrats and Republicans and is likely to tip the balance – before voting twice in a row, in 2016 and 2020 , about Donald Trump, again a candidate for 2024.