Ohio voters legalize marijuana, NYC elects a Republican: 5 takeaways from the nation's election results
2. Ohio establishes a constitutional right to abortion
Ohio’s Issue 1 was the lone abortion-related referendum on the ballot Tuesday. The ballot measure, which would enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution, passed with nearly 57% of the vote Tuesday. Ohio has become the fourth state where voters have supported a measure to establish a right to abortion following the United States Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion.
Other states that have constitutional rights to abortion are California, Michigan and Vermont. Unlike the three states where voters approved measures establishing a right to abortion last year, Ohio voted for Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
In a phone call with members of the media two weeks ago, the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America expressed concern that pro-abortion advocacy groups would work to put similar referendums on the ballot in other conservative states, specifically Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The pro-life advocacy group also listed Arizona, which narrowly backed Biden in 2020, as a top target for those seeking to establish constitutional rights to abortion via ballot referendums.
While the pro-life group currently lists Ohio as one of 25 states that have enacted strong pro-life protections following the Dobbs decision, the passage of Issue 1 nullifies the state’s heartbeat law that bans abortions after six weeks gestation. The six-week abortion ban was on hold by the courts at the time of the Issue 1 vote.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
