Ohio Issue 1 goes down to defeat

A big step forward for securing abortion rights in Ohio

Issue 1 has gone down to decisive defeat. That paves the way for a November ballot referendum in the Buckeye State, “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety." If it passes, the upcoming referendum would, among other things, enshrine a right to abortion up through fetal viability in the state constitution. Polls of Ohio voters have consistently shown that a clear majority favor language similar to the proposed referendum.

That’s why Ohio Republicans concocted Issue 1, a measure that would have required future statewide ballot referenda to receive the approval of 60% of voters to amend the constitution, a change from the simple majority standard that has been in place since 1912. 

Republicans in the state have been scheming since last year to get this measure before voters, in response to a string of victories by pro-choice advocates on state referenda in Michigan, Kansas and elsewhere. In Michigan and Kansas, abortion rights were codified or retained in the states’ respective constitutions with 57% and 59% of the vote, respectively. So, facing the likelihood that Ohio’s currently draconian anti-abortion laws would be overturned by the voters in November, Republicans tried an end run.

This has become a trend in recent years among Republicans nationwide. According to 538’s Nathaniel Rakich:

Issue 1 is just the latest in a string of efforts by GOP politicians to change the rules governing ballot measures with the implicit, or sometimes explicit, aim of thwarting citizen-led policy proposals. Since 2017, at least 10 states — Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Maine, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah — have considered increasing the threshold for at least some ballot initiatives to pass. All these efforts were led by Republican legislators either in reaction to or in anticipation of liberal ballot questions — like a 2022 effort to expand Medicaid in South Dakota and, more recently, a potential 2024 abortion-rights amendment in Missouri.

Ohio Republicans took all of this a step further. Last December, the legislature voted to get rid of most August elections. Its proponents, including Secretary of State Frank LaRose, cited low turnout and excessive costs as the reason for doing so. This spring, however, after abortion rights proponents secured the necessary signatures to place the reproductive freedom measure on the November ballot, LaRose had a change of “heart” and asked the legislature to schedule Issue 1 for a vote in August, ahead of the November elections.¹

There’s a legitimate debate about whether amending a state constitution should be as easy as a simple majority vote. But that wasn’t the issue here. Ohio Republicans tried to change the amending rules for one reason, and one reason only - they’re likely to lose on abortion in November and perhaps on other issues that their legislative majorities can’t thwart. In response to these vulnerabilities, Republicans have resorted to decrying the “outside” “special interests” that they say are upending the will of Ohioans. But the main group supporting Issue 1 received over 80% of its nearly $5 million war chest from an Illinois shipping magnate, Richard Uihlein, who funds anti-abortion efforts around the country. Those in favor of Issue 1 did not represent the authentic voice of Ohioans. On the contrary, its proponents tried to rig the rules of the game because they know where a majority of voters stand on this issue.

Roughly three million voters cast ballots in an August referendum in an off-year about a procedural question. They rejected the GOP’s gambit. It’s important to celebrate victories when we can. Tonight was one.

1. When he did so, Rose brushed off his earlier opposition to August voting and said a statewide ballot measure then wouldn't be unusual. According to his office, however, the last time Ohioans voted on a statewide measure in August was in 1926, almost a century ago. Apparently, we all have different ideas of what unusual means.