Abortion rights advocates face test with Ohio ballot measure

One of the next big battles in the abortion rights fight is set to take place in Ohio later this summer, when voters will consider a ballot measure that could make it harder for the state to enshrine protections for the medical procedure.

Ohioans are set to vote Aug. 8 on a proposal that, if passed, would require at least 60 percent of voters to pass any amendment to the state’s constitution — up from the current threshold of 50 percent.

Although the amendment doesn’t explicitly mention abortion, the August election, which has sparked bipartisan backlash, comes as Democrats are seeking to put a measure on the ballot this November that would enshrine abortion protections in the state’s constitution.

Should the proposed constitutional amendment pass in August, it could make it harder for abortion rights advocates to pass that initiative and comes as several states are seeking further restrictions to accessing the medical procedure.

“It’s such a power grab on so many levels, and I think it really is an attempt to silence the voice of the people,” Ohio state Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D) told The Hill.

The ballot measure would also require that a petition to get a proposed amendment for the state’s constitution on the ballot would need signatures from all 88 counties in the state, not the current threshold of 44. A cure period, where more signatures could be collected if petitioners for the ballot initiative receive less than the needed number, would also be eliminated.

Republicans argue the proposed amendment is reasonable and necessary to curb special interests from muddying the state constitution. GOP strategist Mark Weaver pointed to a proposed constitutional amendment passed in 2009 that legalized the creation of casinos in several cities. 

“Amending the U.S. Constitution requires 66 percent of both Houses of Congress and 75 percent of all the states. This is a much lower threshold,” Weaver argued.

“The out-of-state abortion lobby was coming in to guarantee their profits in the state constitution much like the casinos have, and the Legislature drew a line, and now Ohioans will vote,” he added.

But the ballot measure has garnered bipartisan criticism. One point of contention drawing ire is a group called Save Our Constitution PAC that’s advocating for the constitutional change and has reportedly received more than $1 million in funding from Illinois GOP donor Richard Uihlein, undercutting arguments that the initiative’s goal is to rid the state constitution of out-of-state special interests.

“What that says to me and I think what it will prove if this passes is that the only groups that will be able to get citizen-led initiatives onto the ballot will be those that have unlimited funding, which will obviously come from outside special interests,” state House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D) told The Hill.

“So I think actually, this does the exact opposite of what Republicans are saying it will do,” she argued.

The ballot initiative also has sparked disapproval from four former Ohio governors, including two Republicans and two Democrats. The election comes months after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed a bill that eliminated the use of most August elections, only for the state to move ahead with one on this ballot measure.

Even some top Republican elected officials in the state expressed apprehension about the ballot initiative, including state House Speaker Jason Stephens (R), though he ultimately voted in favor of it in May. The Ohio Business Roundtable has notably not taken a position on the issue.

“Ohio is stronger when we can all lend our voices and we all have an equal chance to participate in the work of our state’s democracy. I’ve experienced that firsthand having policies backed by myself and a majority of the legislature’s members overturned at the ballot box,” former Gov. John Kasich (R) tweeted in April, arguing against the measure.

The August election will come more than a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, rapidly creating a patchwork of states with differing restrictions on abortion access. Even months after the high court issued its decision, some states have taken measures to further curb access to the medical procedure.

Ohio became a flashpoint in the rapidly changing landscape of abortion following local reporting last July that a 10-year-old rape victim, who was just more than six weeks pregnant, traveled to Indiana to get an abortion over the Buckeye State’s newly enacted six-week abortion ban. 

Democrats have already filed several lawsuits ahead of the August race in to stop the election from taking place.

One of the two lawsuits, which both were filed by Democratic law firm Elias Law Group, takes issue with the August date itself, arguing it’s inconsistent with the recently signed law earlier this year banning most August elections. Another challenge argued the initiative doesn’t make it clear to voters the threshold of people needed to change the state’s constitution has increased from a simple majority.

The state Supreme Court partially ruled in favor of one of these lawsuits on Monday, ordering officials to reword part of the ballot measure. A decision over a separate lawsuit regarding the election’s August date is still pending. 

DeWine spokesperson Dan Tierney, who said the governor’s office didn’t comment on pending litigation while speaking to The Hill last month, acknowledged the criticism of the August date but also noted “the [state] constitution itself generally gives the Legislature the power to set elections.”

Groups on both sides of the abortion access fight inevitably see the potential abortion ballot measure as a driver in the August election, though Ohio Right to Life spokeswoman Elizabeth Marbach pointed to other groups backing the proposed amendment as proof that other issues are also on the line.

“You have other groups like the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, you have Buckeye Firearms [Association] — you have groups that are completely out of the ring when it comes to the issue of abortion that are caring about getting involved in this,” Marbach explained. “Our state’s constitution matters for a multitude of reasons, and I think that every Ohioan is going to have something different that motivates them to go to the ballot box on Aug. 8.”

Others see democracy on the ballot, too.

“This Aug. 8 election is critical, not only for abortion access, but for voters in general. This would radically change our state constitution and, it would allow 41 percent of voters to block any initiative that the majority of Ohioans want,” said Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland, whose group is working to get the abortion measure on the November ballot. 

“I mean that absolutely shreds our state constitution.”