Abortion is on the ballot in Ohio. The results could signal what's ahead for 2024

09:01+08:00, AM. Oct. 31, 2023 By Sarah McCammon

A poll worker has an "Ohio Voted" sticker on her shirt during early in-person voting at the Hamilton County Board of Elections in Cincinnati on Oct. 11. Ohio has a constitutional amendment before voters this year that would include reproductive health protections in the state's constitution, including abortion rights. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption

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Carolyn Kaster/AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When questions about abortion have been put directly to voters in the months since the Supreme Court overturned , voters overwhelmingly have for abortion access.

Now, abortion rights activists in Ohio are wondering if that same energy that fueled success in states like and will translate to their state this year.

Reproductive rights activists gathered to let off some steam at a recent karaoke night in Youngstown, Ohio. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

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Reproductive rights activists gathered to let off some steam at a recent karaoke night in Youngstown, Ohio.

Sarah McCammon/NPR

During a recent gathering at a cidery in Youngstown, abortion rights activists took a break from phone banking and door-knocking to belt out tunes like Shania Twain's girl-power anthem, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" — with the help of a DJ, a karaoke machine and a round or two of hard cider.

"Because this has been a long slog and everything can't just be work, you know?" said Alexis Smith, a local radiologist and activist who helped organize the karaoke night for activists working to pass

If approved, the measure would amend Ohio's constitution to guarantee the right to make reproductive health care decisions, including abortion.

Across Ohio, activists on both sides of Issue 1 are campaigning to get out the vote. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

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Across Ohio, activists on both sides of Issue 1 are campaigning to get out the vote.

Sarah McCammon/NPR

Abortion rights supporters here have been inspired by the success of their counterparts last year where abortion was on the ballot. Smith says they worked for months to get enough signatures to put their own ballot question before Ohio voters.

But they soon ran into another obstacle.

"Then it was, 'oh, by the way, you have a month, and then there's going to be this election that's going to decide everything,'" Smith remembered.

Republican lawmakers in Ohio called a in August on another measure — also called Issue 1 — that would have changed the rules and made it harder for the abortion rights amendment to pass.

Ohio voters turned out in numbers to reject that effort, leaving the threshold for passing an amendment at a simple majority.

Nursing student Ariana Allen, left, talks with Allison Stump, Students for Life Coordinator with Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo, about Issue 1, on the Lima campus of The Ohio State University. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

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Nursing student Ariana Allen, left, talks with Allison Stump, Students for Life Coordinator with Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo, about Issue 1, on the Lima campus of The Ohio State University.

Sarah McCammon/NPR

The fight over the proposed reproductive rights amendment itself is now fully underway. The back-to-back votes seem to be creating confusion in the minds of some voters.

Allen says she wants to do more research to make sure that she votes in line with her values.

"So I don't make [a] mistake — because I am for abortion rights," Allen explained.

Anti-abortion groups say they will have contacted well over 600,000 voters by election day, urging them to vote no.

Meanwhile, the abortion rights group Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights estimates their canvassers will have reached out to more than 3 million voters.

Abortion rights opponents have sought to link Issue 1 to parents' rights, arguing that protections for abortion access could eventually jeopardize the Ohio's parental notification law for minors. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

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Abortion rights opponents have sought to link Issue 1 to parents' rights, arguing that protections for abortion access could eventually jeopardize the Ohio's parental notification law for minors.

Sarah McCammon/NPR

Ohioans are making this decision in a state where a strict abortion ban is waiting in the wings.

The law in court bans most abortions after about six weeks and contains no exceptions for rape or incest. It briefly took effect last year after the decision overturned decades of abortion rights precedent — long enough for a 10-year-old rape victim to make after being forced to travel to neighboring Indiana for an abortion.

"What happened to that 10-year-old girl, let's be clear, was absolutely tragic," said Amy Natoce, press secretary for the anti-abortion group Protect Women Ohio. "I think everybody can agree on that."

Natoce, whose organization is leading the effort to defeat Issue 1, says she's grateful that the girl's rapist was caught and prosecuted. But she stops short of saying that the girl should have had access to abortion in her home state.

"That is up to the voters and the legislature to decide," Natoce added. "If Issue 1 passes, the conversation ends."

Desiree Tims runs a progressive Ohio think tank. She says by doubling down on abortion restrictions, Republicans have created an opening for voters to push back through ballot initiatives. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

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Desiree Tims runs a progressive Ohio think tank. She says by doubling down on abortion restrictions, Republicans have created an opening for voters to push back through ballot initiatives.

Sarah McCammon/NPR

Desiree Tims leads a progressive Ohio think tank and has been working on the Vote Yes campaign. She believes Ohio voters will follow the example set in other states last year.

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