Last Tuesday, Ohioans voted to enshrine the “right” to abortion in the state’s constitution. Within days, the pro-abortion movement revealed it would be using the amendment’s passage to focus on actively stripping all preborn protections in the state.
Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans for United Reproductive Rights, said that her group’s next task is to repeal current abortion restrictions. Ohioans for United Reproductive Rights is comprised of a coalition of organizations including the ACLU of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, and the abortion facility Preterm-Cleveland — where Lakisha Wilson underwent the late abortion that led to her death.
These efforts to ensure abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason ignore the fact that the majority of Americans want restrictions on abortion. A 2023 NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll found, “Two in three Americans want significant restrictions placed on abortion. 66% say abortion should only be allowed, at most, within the first three months of pregnancy.” It also found that only “22% of Americans believe abortion should be available at any time during pregnancy.”
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Likewise, a 2023 Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll revealed that 79% of Americans do not want abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. Yet, that is exactly what abortion organizations are pushing for in Ohio and around the nation, and it’s exactly what Ohio’s Issue 1 will allow.
“All of us who have been continuing to fight litigation will continue to work together to ensure that restrictions and bans that are currently in place are no longer in place,” she told Ohio Capital Journal.
Jessie Hill, an attorney and Case Western Reserve University law professor, emphasized that abortion supporters are ready to use the new amendment to fight for the dismissal of the state’s heartbeat law, which has been blocked in court. “This gives us a new claim we can add into our pending litigation, and we can fight it out from there if the state insists on trying to defend its laws,” Hill said. “But we are now in a very strong position based on the new amendment.”
Meanwhile, those opposed to the amendment have promised that they will not stop fighting for preborn lives.
“As a 100% pro-life conservative, I remain steadfastly committed to protecting life, and that commitment is unwavering,” Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens wrote in a statement. “The legislature has multiple paths that we will explore to continue to protect innocent life. This is not the end of the conversation.”
Aaron Baer, the president of the Center for Christian Virtue, hinted that there may be an attempt in the future to pass another constitutional amendment that could protect all preborn children. “At some point we’re going to want to do everything we can to protect every life in Ohio,” he told Local 12. “And if that means have another constitutional amendment, that’s what it would be.”
