Ohio ballot measure on constitutional amendment process could impact abortion initiative

By Kate Scanlon, OSV News

(OSV News) -- Ohio voters will vote in an Aug. 8 special election on whether to raise the threshold for amending their state's constitution. The outcome could make an impact on a potential ballot measure regarding abortion in November.

Issue 1, if approved by Ohio voters, would require 60% of voter support to amend the state constitution, as opposed to the current requirement of a simple majority of 50% plus one vote.

Supporters argue the measure would bring Ohio's constitution more in line with the U.S. Constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress, or two-thirds of the states requesting one in a convention. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

But opponents argue the measure would disenfranchise majorities of voters on key issues, including an upcoming ballot initiative on abortion.

The Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom are seeking enough signatures to place a measure on the November ballot in the state that would in effect enshrine access to abortion in the state's constitution. Their deadline is July 5.

Ohio's Republican-controlled Legislature authorized an August special election to decide whether to raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments, meaning the outcome of the August election could change the percentage required to pass the abortion ballot measure in the fall.

In the November 2022 elections following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned prior precedent finding abortion access a constitutional right, voters in states across the U.S. either rejected ballot measures meant to restrict abortion, or voted to codify measures protecting the procedure.

Peter Range, CEO of Ohio Right to Life, told OSV News in an interview that Issue 1 is "intended to protect our state Constitution," but he also expressed optimism that Ohio voters would reject the "abortion on demand" offered by the potential November measure.

"When Ohioans realize the dangers of what's written in this measure, they will overwhelmingly reject it," he said.

The proposed amendment, titled "The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety," states that "every individual has a right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one's own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion." The amendment states abortion may be limited after fetal viability unless there is a risk to a woman's life. Estimates of the earliest fetal viability range from 22 to 24 weeks.

Ohio currently permits abortion up to 22 weeks gestation. A law banning abortion after six weeks is facing legal challenges and is not currently in effect.

Range argued that a higher threshold to amend the U.S. Constitution means that document has been amended only 27 times since its ratification 234 years ago, while Ohio's constitution has been amended 172 times since 1851.

"Ohio's constitution is not a policy document," Range said. "Marijuana, gambling, abortion, those are issues that don't belong in our founding charter; they belong in the state Legislature to be debated."

In a May 10 statement, Kellie Copeland, spokesperson for Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, argued that an "effort to undermine the ballot initiative process is a blatant attack on basic democratic principles and seeks to eliminate a commitment to majority rule that has been part of the Ohio Constitution for over 110 years."

"Politicians in Columbus are launching this attack on democracy because they're out of touch with Ohioans, and they're scared of being held accountable," Copeland said. "These politicians know that their radical views on abortion care can't win a fair vote, so they're rigging the system. Now, those same politicians are trying to silence the voice of the majority in order to strip Ohioans of the freedom to access the reproductive health care they need.

The Ohio Capital Journal reports that two of Ohio's former Republican governors who enacted pro-life legislation, Robert Taft and John Kasich, have voiced opposition to raising the constitutional threshold to 60% in the Aug. 8 special election. Taft pointed out the GOP-controlled Legislature abolished August special elections as too costly, with low turnout, only to bring it back in advance of the potential abortion amendment. The former governor noted that raising the 60% threshold could have negative repercussions "to issue general obligation debt to finance or build highways or schools, to protect the environment or create jobs."

The Ohio Catholic Conference said on its website that the state's bishops "do not have a position on Issue 1 as it does not have moral content."

"However, as 'responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation' (Faithful Citizenship, No. 13), the bishops urge Catholics in Ohio to register and vote in the special election," the website said.