Ohio Abortion Ballot Measure Clears Threshold For November Vote
State officials certified Tuesday that backers of a proposal to establish a right to abortion in the Ohio Constitution submitted enough valid signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. An Aug. 8 special election will decide if such a ballot measure must get 60% of votes to pass.
Ohio voters will decide in November whether to amend their state Constitution to establish a right to abortion, after state officials said on Tuesday that proponents had submitted over 495,000 valid signatures from voters, more than enough to put the question on the ballot. Supporters of the measure still face another hurdle. Republicans in the state legislature want to make the amendment harder to approve, and have put up a ballot question of their own that would raise the threshold of voters required to amend the state constitution to 60 percent instead of a simple majority. That question is on the ballot in a special election on Aug. 8; early voting on that amendment is already in progress. (Zernike, 7/25)
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) certified petitioners received a total of 495,938 valid signatures, exceeding the required minimum of 413,446 signatures equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast for the governors office in the last election. These signatures were collected from 55 counties in Ohio, also surpassing the minimum requirement of at least 44 counties. The coalition said earlier this month they submitted over 700,000 signatures to place the measure on the ballot. (Nazzaro, 7/25)
The measure will be closely watched by groups on both sides of the abortion debate, as activists consider pursuing referendums in other states after the U.S. Supreme Court last year stripped away national abortion rights. Ohio is likely to be the only state to vote on abortion rights this fall. (Ax, 7/26)
On contraception in Ohio
The Ohio Secretary of State said Tuesday that Republican lawmakers would not try to ban contraception if the threshold for passing a state constitutional amendment is raised. Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) made the comment during a debate, hosted by WCMH-TV in Columbus, over Issue 1, a ballot proposal that would raise the threshold for passing future changes to the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60 percent. The move comes as Ohio is set to vote on a measure in November that would amend the state constitution to protect abortion rights. (Suter, 7/25)
In other abortion news
Gov. Kim Reynolds can proceed with an appeal on a temporary block on the states new, restrictive abortion law, the Iowa Supreme Court said Tuesday. Reynolds announced her intentions to appeal last week and said it was just a matter of time before lawyers for the state filed the request, which they did Friday. The Iowa Supreme Court had to say whether the request could move forward. (Fingerhut, 7/25)
Amid a legal battle about the future of abortion rights in Florida, more than 38,000 abortions were performed in the state during the first half of 2023, according to a newly posted report on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. The report, dated July 3, said 38,244 abortions had been performed this year. About one-third of the abortions were performed on residents of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, while 3,390 were performed on women from other states. (7/25)
On abortion politics on Capitol Hill
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R), who is holding up more than 280 senior military promotions over the Pentagons abortion policies, said Tuesday hes not likely to change his position before the Senate departs for a five-week August recess. No, Im not going to change my mind, Tuberville told The Hill on NewsNation when asked whether he would drop his holds before the long break from Washington. (Bolton, 7/25)
