ACLU-backed abortion measure makes Ohio ballot in November
Breccan F. Thies
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An American Civil Liberties Union-backed proposed amendment to Ohio’s constitution that critics say will allow children to obtain abortions and sex-change operations will appear on November’s ballot.
The office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who recently announced a bid to unseat three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), announced the constitutional amendment obtained enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot.
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LaRose’s certification is a part of his official capacity as secretary of state, and he has said the measure making the ballot does not reflect his personal beliefs, which he describes as “strongly pro-life.”
Gaining over 710,000 signatures earlier this month, the ballot measure only needed 495,938 valid signatures representing 5% of electors in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. The measure reached that mark in 55 counties, allowing it to make the ballot statewide.
According to opponents, if passed, the measure would allow citizens of the Buckeye State, including children of any age, to obtain unrestricted access to abortions and sex-change drugs and surgeries, due to the measure’s broad language and lack of age limitations. It uses terms like “reproductive decisions” that are “not limited to” abortions.
“Every person deserves respect, dignity, and the right to make reproductive health care decisions, including those related to their own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion free from government interference,” Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights Executive Committee members Lauren Blauvelt and Dr. Lauren Beene said in an ACLU press release. “Now that the petition drive is complete, we’re eager to continue the campaign to enshrine those rights in Ohio’s Constitution and ensure that Ohioans will never again be subject to draconian reproductive health care policies imposed by extremists.”
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In order to counter the constitutional amendment, opponents started a separate initiative in August to raise the threshold to enact a constitutional amendment in Ohio from a simple majority to 60%. A recent poll from USA Today showed that 58% of Ohio voters support the constitutional amendment to prohibit the state from enacting laws restricting the legality of abortion.
LaRose told the Washington Examiner this month that it is “too easy to amend the state constitution,” adding, “Activist groups, out-of-state groups have figured out that they can try to make laws by constitutional amendment, which is not how government is supposed to work.”