A
sign
asking
Ohioans
to
vote
in
support
of
Issue
1
sits
above
another
sign
advocating
against
abortion
rights
at
an
event
hosted
by
Created
Equal
on
Thursday,
July
20,
2023,
in
Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Patrick
Orsagos
|
AP
Ohio
voters
on
Tuesday
resoundingly
rejected
a
Republican-backed
attempt
to
thwart
an
upcoming
referendum
that
would
enshrine
abortion
rights
in
the
state
constitution.
The
failed
GOP
proposal,
known
as
Issue
1,
would
have
raised
the
minimum
threshold
of
votes
needed
to
amend
the
state
constitution
by
popular
referendum,
from
a
simple
majority
up
to
60%
of
ballots
cast.
The
failure
of
Issue
1
means
a
constitutional
amendment
to
protect
abortion
rights
will
face
a
50%
threshold
to
pass
when
Ohioans
vote
again
in
November
and
therefore
has
a
much
better
chance
of
succeeding.
The
reproductive
rights
amendment
would
basically
bar
the
state
from
interfering
in
women’s
decisions
on
abortion,
contraception,
fertility
treatment
and
miscarriage
care.
A
poll
conducted
by
USA
Today
and
Suffolk
University
in
July
found
that
58%
of
Ohioans
support
the
amendment
to
enshrine
abortion
rights
in
the
state
constitution.
Beyond
Ohio,
the
vote
Tuesday
represents
a
red
flag
for
Republican
office
holders
nationwide,
who
had
hoped
that
the
voter
backlash
against
the
end
of
Roe
would
be
confined
to
the
2022
ballot
box.
This
vote
in
reliably
Republican
Ohio
suggests
the
issue
of
abortion
rights
still
draws
voters
to
the
polls
in
outsized
numbers.
This
is
good
news,
however,
for
Ohio’s
senior
senator,
Democrat
Sherrod
Brown,
who
faces
a
tough
reelection
battle
next
year
in
a
state
that
Donald
Trump
won
by
8
points
in
2020
Ohioans
United
for
Reproductive
Rights,
the
coalition
that
drafted
the
amendment
to
protect
abortion,
is
aiming
to
strike
a
decisive
blow
in
November
that
would
erase
the
state’s
six
week
abortion
ban
and
block
any
future
effort
to
restrict
reproductive
rights
in
Ohio.
The
state’s
six-week
ban
is
currently
on
hold
due
to
a
court
ruling.
The
coalition
is
made
up
of
the
Ohio
chapter
of
the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union,
Planned
Parenthood’s
state
advocacy
organization,
and
numerous
other
state
groups
that
support
reproductive
rights.
Ohioans
United
for
Reproductive
Rights
filed
the
amendment
protecting
abortion
rights
with
the
state
attorney
general
in
February,
and
received
the
go-ahead
to
start
collecting
signatures
in
March.
Only
then
did
Republicans
in
the
state
legislature
move
to
raise
the
minimum
threshold
to
pass
constitutional
changes.
The
Ohio
General
Assembly
approved
Issue
1
in
May
and
set
the
August
8
election
date.
Every
Democrat
in
the
state
legislature
and
five
Republicans
in
the
state
House
opposed
the
effort.
Across
the
country,
activists
have
increasingly
taken
the
issue
of
abortion
rights
directly
to
voters
through
state
referendums
in
the
wake
of
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court’s
June
2022
decision
to
overturn
Roe
v.
Wade,
which
protected
the
procedure
as
a
constitutional
right
nationwide
for
nearly
50
years.
Kansas
and
Kentucky
rejected
anti-abortion
amendments
last
year,
while
voters
in
California,
Michigan
and
Vermont
codified
the
procedure
as
a
right
under
their
state
constitutions.
Republican
donor
Richard
Uihlein,
CEO
of
the
packing
supply
company
Uline,
has
bankrolled
Protect
Our
Constitution,
the
main
political
action
committee
campaigning
for
Issue
1
in
Ohio.
Uihlein
contributed
$4
million
to
the
group
as
of
July.
Reproductive
rights
groups
such
as
NARAL
Pro-Choice
slammed
the
attempt
to
raise
the
threshold
for
constitutional
changes
to
60%
from
a
simple
majority
as
a
transparent
“power
play”
designed
to
prevent
voters
from
enshrining
abortion
rights
in
Ohio.
More
than
just
abortion
rights
were
at
stake
in
Tuesday’s
vote.
The
60%
threshold
could
have
also
threatened
efforts
to
raise
Ohio’s
minimum
wage
to
$15
through
a
referendum
that
is
expected
to
be
on
the
ballot
in
November
of
2024.
If
approved,
the
wage
hike
would
go
into
effect
in
stages,
and
reach
$15
in
2028.
