Abortion foes in Ohio aim to snap losing streak with 2024 election
looming
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[November 02, 2023]
By Joseph Ax
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (Reuters) - At a recent hog roast fundraiser for the
Clark County Republican Party, Ohio Right to Life CEO Peter Range
offered his audience a stark warning: The outcome of Ohio's Nov. 7 vote
on abortion rights will reverberate far beyond the state.
"They feel like if they can win here, they'll take this roadmap to the
rest of the country," he said of abortion rights groups. "So our battle
here is important, not only for the kids' lives at stake and the culture
of the state, but also for the rest of the nation."
The anti-abortion movement last year suffered a string of statewide
losses at the polls – including in Republican states Kansas, Montana and
Kentucky – after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right to
abortion. Now activists on both sides have focused on conservative Ohio
as a critical testing ground of their messaging, strategy and
mobilization ahead of 2024's elections.
Already, abortion-related ballot initiatives for 2024 are in various
stages of advancement in close to a dozen states, including crucial
presidential swing states such as Arizona and Florida.
In addition to the Ohio referendum, next week's legislative elections in
Virginia are also centered on abortion, after Republicans have vowed to
push through a 15-week limit if they win a majority in the statehouse.
The Ohio ballot question, known as Issue 1, asks voters if abortion
rights should be enshrined in the state constitution, a move that would
render moot a six-week limit signed into law by Republican Governor Mike
DeWine. That law is on hold pending litigation at the conservative state
Supreme Court.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the coalition supporting the
amendment, has raised almost $40 million since February, compared with
just under $27 million for Protect Women Ohio, the coalition opposing
the referendum, according to campaign filings last week.
The flow of money - mostly from out of state - has fueled a massive
investment in television ads. More than $34 million had been committed
as of last week, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.
But the battle is also unfolding door-by-door across Ohio, from urban
centers such as Cleveland to the state's rural corners.
On a recent weekday afternoon, members of the Ohio Women's Alliance, a
Black-led reproductive justice organization that focuses on people of
color, visited a neighborhood in northeastern Columbus urging voters to
support the initiative.
Takerr Lowery, a 45-year-old IT administrator who answered the door,
said he would vote in favor of the amendment.
"I have a daughter who's 7," he said. "I can't imagine her having less
rights than her mom did."
Another resident, Tracy Austin, said she still couldn't believe Ohio
lawmakers had voted to take away abortion rights.
"The idea that men should be able to tell me what I can do with my body
is infuriating," said the 53-year-old billing analyst.
Rhiannon Carnes, the co-founder of the alliance, said the amendment
would not pass without support from Black Ohioans.
"As someone who has been doing this work for a long time, this is the
first time I feel like we have a chance to fight back," she said.
Not everyone was supportive. One woman spoke through a screened window,
telling a canvasser, "I'm voting no because I don't believe in murder."
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![](../images/110223PIX/news_q9.jpg)
Lena Collins, an organizer with the Ohio Women's Alliance, goes
door-to-door to speak with voters about the state's upcoming
referendum on abortion rights, in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., October 25,
2023. REUTERS/Joseph Ax/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/02/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_CHRISTMASOPEN_2023.png)
The anti-abortion campaign has launched its own outreach to the
Black community via churches. In October, more than 100 Black
pastors signed an open letter calling on their congregants to oppose
Issue 1, noting that Black women account for nearly half of all
statewide abortions.
CRITICAL DIFFERENCES
Organizers of the "no" campaign say there are crucial differences
between the upcoming Ohio vote and the unsuccessful measures in
2022.
DeWine, who easily defeated Democratic nominee Nan Whaley last year
despite her emphasis on protecting abortion access, has been a
visible spokesman.
The "no" side has also had far more time to raise money, air
commercials and build a field operation than anti-abortion groups
did in the few months after last year's Supreme Court ruling, said
Amy Natoce, a Protect Women Ohio spokesperson.
In addition to get-out-the-vote pushes in reliably Republican areas,
the anti-abortion coalition has sought to persuade independent and
even Democratic voters by labeling the amendment as extreme.
The campaign has said, citing conservative lawyers, that the wording
of Issue 1 could allow minors to obtain abortions without parental
consent and permit abortions on demand at any time, even in the
final weeks of pregnancy.
"Whether you are inherently pro-life or firmly identify as
pro-choice, hearing how radical this amendment is gets people fired
up," Natoce said.
Abortion rights supporters say those claims are incorrect. Several
legal experts have said the amendment's language, which does not
mention parental rights, would not override the need for minors to
get parental consent for an abortion.
The ballot question says the state can still restrict abortion past
the point of fetal viability – typically around 23 or 24 weeks –
unless needed to protect the mother's health. While such abortions
do occur, they are rare: less than 1% of Ohio abortions in 2022 were
performed beyond 20 weeks, according to the state health department.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Sep/05/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png)
For their part, abortion rights activists warn that rejecting the
amendment will result in a near-total ban.
The "no" side has called that argument deceptive because abortion is
currently legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks, pending a decision by the
state Supreme Court on the six-week limit.
The abortion rights side notched an initial victory in August, when
voters rejected a Republican-backed ballot initiative that would
have raised the threshold for approving constitutional amendments –
including November's abortion vote – from a simple majority to 60%.
"We've seen it time and time again across the country: When you put
abortion on the ballot, it wins," Carnes said. "It's a matter of
reminding people that if we don't win in November, these extremist
politicians will strip away our rights."
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Aurora
Ellis)
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