The Ohio Secretary of State‘s Office certified on Tuesday the petitions submitted by a coalition of pro-abortion activists who want Ohioans to vote in November on a proposed amendment that would enshrine abortion into the state Constitution.
The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, proposed “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” which would add a Section 22 to Article 1 of the state Constitution.
The proposal would remove Ohio’s parental notification legislation when a minor wants an abortion and the requirement that abortionists adhere to fundamental hospital health and safety standards. The proposal also aims to permit abortions after babies have heartbeats and can feel pain.
The coalition needed to gather over 413,000 signatures from registered voters in at least 44 counties, which equals 10 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election before July 5th, to get the amendment on the November ballot. The coalition submitted 710,131 petition signatures before the deadline, and on Tuesday, the secretary of state’s office said 495,938 of those were valid signatures.
The next step is to bring the amendment before the Ohio Ballot Board so that it may decide what text will appear on the ballot when people vote on the proposal this autumn. When that might occur is still unknown.
Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate for 2024 Frank LaRose (pictured above) told The Ohio Star last month that he expected to see the abortion amendment on the November ballot.
The number of votes needed to pass the abortion rights amendment is yet unknown. During an August 8th special election, Ohio voters will decide if the threshold to amend the state Constitution should increase from 50 percent plus one to 60 percent through State Issue 1.
If approved by voters, the August proposal would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
Protect Women Ohio, a pro-life coalition, spent an initial $8 million on television, radio, and digital advertisements to pass Issue 1 in August and protect Ohio’s constitution from out-of-state special interest groups, and to defeat the ACLU’s radical anti-parent initiative in November.
According to Protect Women Ohio, the proposed abortion amendment is dangerous, and through its efforts, Ohioans are starting to see that.
“Ohioans are waking up to the dangers of the ACLU’s anti-parent amendment and they are terrified—and rightfully so. The extreme amendment places parental rights on the chopping block by permitting minors to undergo abortions and sex change procedures without their parents’ knowledge or consent, removes health and safety protections for women, and allows painful abortion up until birth. PWO will continue to shine a light on the ACLU’s disastrous agenda until it is defeated in November,” Protect Women Ohio press secretary Amy Natoce said.
Protect Women Ohio said it will not stop fighting until voters defeat the abortion amendment in November.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Frank LaRose” by Frank LaRose.
