Abortion rights advocates get green light to collect signatures for 2023 ballot measure
Advocates of abortion access will soon hit the streets to collect signatures to try to make the November ballot.
The proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution cleared the Ohio Ballot Board Monday after the five-member board certified that the proposal was one issue rather than multiple ones.
Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, noted that she was "horrified at the thought" of the amendment being added to the Ohio Constitution but had a procedural role to fulfill. She joined the unanimous vote.
Proponents now have until July 5 to collect 413,446 valid signatures from at least 44 counties. If they do, the measure will be placed on Ohioans' November ballot.
"We're probably printing the books now that we got the thumbs up," said Jordyn Close, a spokesperson for Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom. "You can see us out collecting signatures, I'm sure, as soon as the end of this week."
Those backing the constitutional amendment have a roster of volunteers but also plan to hire paid signature collectors.
What the amendment would do
The amendment 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."
If approved by voters, Ohio lawmakers and state officials could not ban abortion until after fetal viability, which is the point in a pregnancy when physicians say a fetus can survive outside of the womb. That is typically about 23 to 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Current Ohio law prohibits doctors from performing abortions after cardiac activity is detected, which is about six weeks into pregnancy. That law, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2019, is currently on hold by a court order.
"The legislators should stay out of the exam room and let this be a discussion between women and their physicians to decide what healthcare is right for them," said Dr. Amy Burkett, an OB-GYN in Northeast Ohio and member of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, which is pushing the constitutional amendment.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appealed the decision, but the Ohio Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will review the case now.
Opponents of the measure say it goes too far in allowing abortions later in pregnancy. They promised a well-funded and organized effort to stop the abortion access amendment.
"This is the great debate in the public square, and we’re prepared to have it," Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said. "The (amendment's) language is dangerous and deceptive."
Burkett disagreed, saying "we are not interested in doing full-term abortions. This is about protecting the right to reproductive healthcare, including abortion, up to viability."
Ohio Democrats back initiative, Ohio Republicans' resolution delayed
On Saturday, the Ohio Democratic Party endorsed the constitutional amendment and promised to help collect signatures for it. The party's infrastructure should help with signature collection, particularly outside of Ohio's largest cities.
"While Republican politicians in Columbus and Washington are working overtime to implement extreme laws that would make abortion illegal, we’re committed to the work of getting commonsense abortion rights on the ballot and passed by a majority of Ohioans," Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Elizabeth Walters said in a statement.
The Ohio Republican Party planned to pass a resolution denouncing the abortion amendment on Friday, but debate about whether to fold it into a new party platform delayed the vote. Their next scheduled meeting is in about two months.
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou made clear that the GOP would oppose the measure.
"While pro-abortion special interests spend the next few months collecting signatures, the Ohio Republican Party will be informing Ohioans of the truth behind this dangerous abortion initiative," Triantafilou said in a statement. "Thanks to Republican leadership, Ohio is the most pro-life state in the country and we intend to make sure it stays that way by defeating this proposal."
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio abortion amendment: Signature collection begins for fall ballot
