Abortion activists want the Ohio constitution amended. Their efforts got the issue on the ballot, now voters will have to decide at the polls.
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights filed the petition with the state's attorney general on Tuesday, following in the footsteps of several other states that added a referendum on the 2022 general election ballots to enshrine the right to abortion in state constitutions — a move that came swiftly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
The proposed amendment would include a provision that says abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. It did not specify at what time fetal viability is reached, but scientists generally consider fetal viability to be around 23 or 24 weeks. In some states, abortion can be prohibited after as early as six weeks in Arizona to 20 weeks of pregnancy in North Carolina.
“Ohioans are perilously close to losing access to safe, legal, comprehensive reproductive medical care,” OPRR executive director Lauren Beene said. “As we saw first-hand when Ohio’s abortion ban went into effect last year, withholding that care puts people’s lives and health at risk. This common-sense amendment ensures that physicians will be able to provide the care our patients need and deserve free from government interference.
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