Implications of Ohio’s Abortion Vote

Ohio voters achieved a significant victory for abortion access during Tuesday’s election. While the voters did not explicitly vote on abortion, they rejected a GOP-backed proposal called Issue 1 that aimed to make it more difficult to amend the state’s constitution. However, the vote was widely interpreted as an attempt to restrict abortions since there is a measure to secure abortion rights on the November ballot. In fact, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose stated that Issue 1 was “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution,” according to the Ohio Capital Journal. Let’s explore the implications of this vote:

• The outcome of the election is significant, as highlighted by David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick in their assessment for the New York Times. Despite Ohio becoming increasingly conservative, the proposal was defeated by a margin of 57% to 43%. This marks the fourth consecutive red state, following Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana, that has supported abortion access through a referendum since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It appears that ballot initiatives, rather than removing popular Republican politicians, are currently one of the main avenues for advocates to expand abortion access in conservative states. However, more votes on this matter are forthcoming, and the article delves into those in more detail.