The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by a group of pro-life advocates requesting that they block a proposal that aims to enshrine abortion into the state constitution from the November ballot.
All of the seven Supreme Court justices dismissed the lawsuit brought by former state Representative Tom Brinkman from Cincinnati and former legislative candidate Jennifer Giroux who say that that the Ohio Supreme Court should block the proposal as the submitted signature petitions to get on the ballot fails to specify which state laws would need to be abolished if voters approved the constitutional amendment.
The lawsuit noted that the amendment will nullify portions of current Ohio laws such as the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act, which lawmakers passed in 2019 and forbids abortion in Ohio after the detection of any fetal cardiac activity.
A Hamilton County judge put the heartbeat law on hold while pro-abortion advocates challenged it in court. Currently, abortion is legal for up to 22 weeks.
According to the lawsuit, the petition is invalid because it didn’t specify these initiatives, thus pro-abortion advocates cannot put it on the ballot in November.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court justices said that a petition proposing a constitutional amendment does not have to include the text of an existing statute meaning that the abortion proposal is able to go before voters in November.
“The Ohio Revised Code does not require a petition proposing a constitutional amendment to include the text of an existing statute,” the ruling said.
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 has 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, as well as the requirement that abortionists adhere to fundamental hospital health and safety standards. The proposal also aims to permit abortions far after babies have heartbeats and can feel pain.
Ohio Right to Life director of communications Elizabeth Marbach told The Ohio Star that despite the Supreme Court ruling, they remain focused on defeating this proposal at the ballot in November.
“Given the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision, we remain focused on defeating the ACLU’s radical attempt to enshrine state-sanctioned murder into our state’s constitution this November. Ohioans from all 88 counties are ready to reject their extremism this fall,” Marbach told The Star.
The Ohio Star reached out to Brinkman and Giroux for comment but did not receive a reply before press time.
The Ohio Supreme Court will hear arguments on the six-week abortion ban also known as the heartbeat law on September 27th two weeks before early voting begins for the November 7th election.
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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 “Ohio Supreme Court Justices” by The Ohio Supreme Court.
