Ohio abortion amendment is test case for the country, say anti-abortion advocates
Gabrielle M. Etzel
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Anti-abortion groups say that the amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the Ohio state constitution is a trial run for abortion rights advocacy groups to try similar means in other states across the country that have enacted legislative protections for unborn children.
“Ohio is an important test case,” said the Vice President for State Affairs at SBA Pro-Life America, Stephen Billy. “The stakes could not be higher.”
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The Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced on Tuesday that the amendment, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, had garnered enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot in November.
Written by the ACLU, the amendment’s broad language prevents state actions that “directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against” individual exercise or assistance in obtaining an unlimited list of reproductive health decisions, including abortion, contraception, and “continuing one’s own pregnancy.”
SBA and Protect Women Ohio contend that the language entirely invalidates existing legislation in place that requires parental consent for underage abortions and regulates the safety of abortion procedures, such as requiring abortion clinics to have hospital admission privileges or be in close proximity to an emergency room.
Billy contends that the goal of the ACLU is to subvert the legislative process in states by using the citizen-initiated amendment process in the 18 states that have such provisions.
“They can’t succeed through the legislative process,” said Billy, especially in states with Republican control like Ohio.
Billy told reporters that the ACLU has already begun collecting signatures in South Dakota and Florida for similar amendments and has filed to do so in Missouri despite state government pushback. The ACLU has also stated that its goal is to push similar amendments through in Arizona, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Idaho in the near future.
“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,” said Lauren Beene of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, which is affiliated with the ACLU.
Although recent poll results show that 58% of Ohioans support the amendment, PWO spokeswoman Amy Natoce told reporters that the numbers from polling organizations are not as important as the experience seen by activists operating in the state.
“We really have to be on the ground talking to voters, talking to parents,” said Natoce, who said that parents and guardians have a “visceral reaction” when they are told about how the amendment could erode parental rights.
“All these numbers are kind of meaningless unless you … really ask a person, what are you in favor of,” Janet Morana of Priests for Life told the Washington Examiner when asked about polling on support for abortion.
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“When they say most Americans want to let women choose, you really need to drill down the question,” said Morana, rather than asking vague questions.
Ohioans will vote on Aug. 8 to determine whether or not they will raise the necessary voter share from 50% to 60% to change the state constitution, which could change the standard necessary for the November referendum.