Issue 1 ballot proposition fails in Ohio, as pro-life groups turn attention to November election

Ohio voters failed to pass Issue 1 during a special election on Tuesday, a ballot proposition that would require constitutional amendments to receive the support of 60 percent of voters in order to take effect.

The proposition was of particular importance to pro-lifers because, in November, the state’s voters will decide whether or not to define abortion as a constitutional “right.” With Issue 1’s failure, the state now needs a simple majority of more than 50% to pass the proposed constitutional amendment.

According to CatholicVote, the pro-abortion industry poured millions of dollars into campaigning against the ballot proposition. This likely influenced voter turnout, which NPR reports was higher than expected. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that 57% of voters were against the proposition.

President Joe Biden hailed the proposition’s defeat. “This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions,” he said. “Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.”

In conceding the proposition’s defeat, Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens said it’s now important for voters to focus on the November vote on the proposed constitutional amendment. “The people of Ohio have spoken. It is now time to turn our attention to November,” Stephens said in a statement. “As a 100% pro-life conservative, we must defeat Issue 1 on November 7 to stop abortion from being a part of our state’s constitution.”

Center for Christian Virtue president Aaron Baer stated in an email, “On November 7, voters will be asked if we want to allow painful late-term abortions to be performed on minors, without parental consent… We cannot allow Ohio to become California. Issue 1 would have better protected us from these dangerous political schemes, and I will be forever grateful for all the volunteers, church leaders, students, and marketplace leaders that laid it all on the line to fight for this important amendment.”

The constitutional amendment on the ballot in November has broad-reaching ramifications. A previous article by the National Review notes the wording of the bill:

Beyond abortion, the text of the proposed amendment provides more broadly that “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to” several categories: contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. “Reproductive decisions,” however, is a very broad term. By explicitly defining such decisions as “not limited to” the enumerated categories, the proposal establishes its scope as sweeping.

A natural reading would extend to any medical procedure that involves the human reproductive system, including sex-change surgery. The language also applies to individuals without any age qualification, so the proposal makes no distinction between adults and minors. Additional language would deny parents the right to any intervention on behalf of their children that would discourage them from obtaining the procedure in question.

The group Protect Women Ohio has been actively trying to raise awareness of the fact that this proposed amendment isn’t just about a “right” to abortion — it would also strip parental rights by removing notification laws and allowing children to undergo abortions or sex change surgery without parental consent. The group told the Associated Press that despite the ballot proposition’s failure, it is focusing on the November election.

“Our pro-life, pro-parent coalition is more motivated than ever,” it said in a statement.