Ohio voted to protect abortion rights in the state constitution, a major victory for reproductive rights.
Seventeen months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, residents of the Republican-controlled state strongly supported an amendment enshrining access to the procedure and a range of other reproductive rights.
The result of the highly anticipated referendum is a major victory for Democrats, who hope to capitalize on the issue in the 2024 elections.
President Joe Biden hailed the decision as a victory over “MAGA Republican elected officials” who sought to “impose extreme abortion bans that endanger women’s health and lives.”
Abortion is legal in Ohio until 22 weeks of pregnancy, but the GOP has struggled to enact a six-week ban following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022.
The Ohio ballot initiative, simply called “Topic 1,” affirms women’s rights to make their own decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and pregnancy.
Ohio has voted to protect the right to abortion in the state constitution, a major victory for reproductive rights following the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade had fallen
It still allows some late-term abortions to be banned unless the mother’s life is in danger or a doctor allows the procedure to be performed.
Republicans, including Gov. Mike DeWine, opposed the ballot initiative, claiming it would lead to more late-term abortions.
Statement from President Joe Biden on the Ohio abortion initiative
Tonight, Americans voted again to protect their fundamental freedoms – and democracy won.
In Ohio, voters protected access to reproductive health care in their state constitution.
Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that endanger women’s health and lives, force women to travel hundreds of miles for treatment, and threaten to defund doctors and nurses to criminalize healthcare providing care that their patients need and are trained to provide.
This extreme and dangerous agenda is at odds with the vast majority of Americans.
My administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to uphold Roe v. To restore Wade to federal law once and for all.
Ohio joins voters in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont who either supported abortion rights or voted against undermining it.
The state made national headlines just weeks after the Dobbs decision when a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio was forced to travel to Indiana to have an abortion because terminating a pregnancy would be a crime in the state.
In August, Ohio voters rejected a measure that would have made it harder to change the state’s constitution.
The move cleared the way for abortion to be placed on the ballot.
CNN exit polls showed that most Ohio voters were upset about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Six in 10 voters said they had negative feelings about the justices’ decision, while four in 10 said they were “angry.”
Biden added that the “extreme and dangerous agenda” of enacting nationwide abortion bans “is not consistent with the majority of Americans.”
“Tonight, Americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms – and democracy won,” the president said shortly after the results were announced.
“In Ohio, voters protected access to reproductive health care in their state constitution.
“Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that endanger women’s health and lives, force women to travel hundreds of miles for treatment, and threaten to shut down doctors and nurses for providing abortions to criminalize health care that their patients need and are trained to provide.
“This extreme and dangerous agenda does not fit the ideas of the vast majority of Americans.”
“My administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to uphold Roe v. “To restore Wade to federal law once and for all.”
The majority of residents supported an amendment that would enshrine access to the procedure and a range of other reproductive rights in the Republican-controlled state
Voters celebrate as results of Ohio’s abortion drive are announced
Abortion rights activists mark outside the Hamilton County Courthouse in Ohio after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade fell in 2022
Last year, abortion rights advocacy groups won a series of victories by putting abortion referendums on the ballot, including in conservative states.
In addition to Tuesday’s change in Ohio, similar 2024 ballot measures are moving forward in several states, including swing states Arizona and Florida.
Anti-abortion activists protested the Ohio amendment as too extreme, while abortion rights groups warned that a rejection would pave the way for a strict ban to take effect.
Ohio’s Republican-controlled Legislature previously approved a six-week deadline, but the law is on hold pending the outcome of a legal challenge before the state’s conservative Supreme Court.