Ohio Republicans Seek Rule Change to Block Abortion Ballot Measure
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Ohioans will vote this week on a ballot measure that could kill a November abortion rights ballot measure by raising the vote threshold for it to pass.
Abortion Rights Amendment: Ohio’s constitution allows citizens to sidestep the state legislature and pass constitutional amendments via ballot measures. In November, Ohioans will vote on one such measure, backed by state Democrats, which would establish an individual right to pre-viability abortion — similar to the standard under Roe v. Wade. It would also establish a right to individual autonomy on contraception, fertility care, and miscarriage care.
Anti-Amendment Countermeasure: To stop the Democrat-backed ballot measure, Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature scheduled an August 8 special election to consider “Issue 1”: a constitutional amendment that would, among other things, raise the threshold for ballot measure amendments from 50% to 60%. Multiple polls have found that about 58% of Ohioans backed the abortion rights amendment, but support for Issue 1 is more split.
How the Media Covered It: News and opinion coverage featured a clear partisan split. Coverage from the left often discussed “enshrining abortion rights”; Media Matters (Left bias) accused “right-wing media” of “muddying the water” on an effort to “dilute voter power.” National Review (Right bias), however, has on multiple occasions referred to the abortion rights amendment as “radical,” “pro-abortion,” and “extreme” — as well as “deceptive,” since it would allow more abortions than “the average Ohioan” might assume.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Ahead of Ohio abortion vote, Republicans try to change the rules
A pro-choice referendum looked poised to win in the conservative state of Ohio this November. Now, Republican state legislators are accused of moving the goalposts.
Last summer, just like every summer for the past 22 years, Michael Curtin spent his days on the assorted baseball fields of central Ohio, acting as umpire for high school and college games.
Mr Curtin, retired after a 38-year career in journalism and another four in state politics, loves the game. But this summer, Mr Curtin's umpire equipment has been neglected, shoved somewhere in the...
From the Right
Poll: Ohio’s ‘Issue 1’ a Dead Heat
Ohio voters head to the polls this coming Tuesday, August 8, to vote on “Issue 1”—whether to raise the threshold to change the state constitution via ballot initiative from the current simple-majority requirement to 60 percent of votes cast.
The imminent significance of the August vote is a deceptively framed ballot measure to be decided in November. In that upcoming election, the vote will determine whether Ohio will add a radical pro-abortion amendment to the state’s constitution.
Conventional wisdom holds that the August effort to raise the threshold is very unlikely to...
From the Left
What To Know About Ohio’s Special Election and Abortion Access
In the 14 months since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted abortion access in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization by overturning Roe v. Wade, one thing has become clear: The Supreme Court was out of step with a strong majority of Americans who believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases and are willing to fight to reassert their rights. And nowhere is this more evident than recent state ballot initiatives regarding abortion.
In 2022, six states supported abortion rights on the ballot—a direct rejection of the Supreme Court’s overreach in Dobbs. In California and...
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