Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is an undeclared candidate for the U.S. Senate, told The Ohio Star that he thinks that the abortion and marijuana legalization efforts in the state will both obtain enough signatures to get on the November 2023 ballot.
“Both efforts are very well funded and it wouldn’t shock me if they are able to get the adequate number they need to get on the November ballot,” LaRose (pictured above) told The Star.
The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists, has proposed “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” which would enshrine abortion into the state constitution.
This proposed amendment would add 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.
Abortion activists are currently attempting 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.
Leaders of the Ohio Democratic Party said they have collected just over 100,000 voter signatures in support of the constitutional amendment. Other abortion activist groups such as Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, and the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights are also collecting signatures.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol attempts to impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of all cannabis products and legalize the possession, purchase, and sale of marijuana by Ohio residents aged 21 and older.
Republican officials have stated that they oppose the drug’s recreational use and are instead focusing on improving Ohio’s medical marijuana program. Two more cannabis legalization initiatives introduced last year have stalled in the statehouse.
This is a proposed law, not a change to the state Constitution. State legislators can amend or abolish laws, including ones that voters enacted, but only a superseding amendment that the general public has adopted can change or repeal constitutional amendments.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that if passed, Ohio would join 21 other states in legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is attempting to collect 124,046 signatures by July 5th in order to qualify for this November’s ballot. Although it has not released the number of signatures collected so far, the coalition said it is “confident” it will be able to collect valid signatures from registered voters to ensure ballot placement before the deadline.
Although LaRose told The Star that he personally thinks that the efforts are both “bad ideas” his team stands ready to receive and validate the signatures by the July 5th deadline.
“My team will be here to receive boxes of petitions from both efforts. We will be ready to thoroughly scrutinize them,” LaRose told The Star.
Conservative organizations such as The Center for Christian Virtue and Protect Women Ohio have launched campaigns to defeat the abortion and marijuana legalization efforts before they reach the polls.
– – –
Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Frank LaRose” by Frank LaRose. Background Photo “Voting Booths” by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0.
