Abortion foes say out-of-state funds are influencing Ohio constitutional amendment
Gabrielle M. Etzel
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Anti-abortion advocates are taking aim at out-of-state financial influence from Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union for having an outsize effect on the Aug. 8 special election in Ohio that will influence the outcome of a referendum on codifying abortion rights into the Ohio Constitution in November.
“Right now, Ohio’s Constitution has a giant ‘FOR SALE’ sign on it,” said Molly Smith, a board member of the advocacy organization Protect Women Ohio, in an announcement of her organization’s multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in support of Issue 1 on the ballot changing the percentage of the vote necessary to amend the state’s Constitution.
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“Out-of-state special interest groups, like the ACLU, think they can drop into Ohio with their fat pockets and buy their way into our founding document — it’s outrageous, and it must be stopped,” Smith said.
Pro-abortion rights activists secured the necessary signatures to put an amendment to the Ohio Constitution on the ballot that codifies “a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to” contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and abortion.
The amendment also prohibits the legislature from restricting abortion if the procedure “in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician is necessary to protect that pregnant patient’s life or health.”
In response to this ballot measure, the Ohio legislature called for a special election in August to change the percentage of the votes necessary to amend the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to a minimum of 60% of voters.
PWO, a self-described “pro-woman, pro-parent, and pro-life coalition,” was established in response to the proposed amendment to counterbalance the influence of Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union. Its claim is that both national level organizations are using out-of-state lobbying funds to contribute to the campaign both to keep the simple majority amendment process and codify abortion access.
PWO has spent a total of $5 million against Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, saying that they advocate to include gender transition medicine as part of comprehensive reproductive care. PWO’s newest ad, “Caught,” is a 60-second commercial that cites several tweets from both organizations showing their support for youth gender transition medicine and the removal of parental consent for transitions and abortions on minors.
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PWO also published the 30-second video commercial “Your Promise,” which cost the organization $2 million to run on television.
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Spread over multiple states and campaigns, the 2022 advocacy budget for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Global was $74.8 million. Similarly, the legislative and legal operating budget of the national level ACLU was $121.37 million, or nearly 40% of its total expenditure.
Pro-abortion rights groups have highlighted that out-of-state interests are also funding anti-abortion advocacy in Ohio, such as the $1 million donation from Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein to the Save Our Constitution PAC.
“Issue 1 does nothing to keep out-of-state special interests from coming into Ohio and buying their preferred policy outcome,” said Collin Marozzi, deputy policy director for ACLU Ohio.
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“All Issue 1 will do is make it nearly impossible for citizen groups to amend our Constitution, ending a right the people of Ohio have had for over 110 years,” he added.
The ratification process for state constitutional amendments varies across the country. Florida also requires a 60% majority to ratify a constitutional amendment. Nevada requires an amendment to be ratified in two consecutive elections before it takes effect.