Reproductive rights groups in Ohio cleared a significant hurdle on Thursday in their effort to bring a ballot initiative before voters that would secure a constitutional right to abortion.
The Ohio attorney general, Dave Yost, approved a petition brought by campaigners looking to bring the ballot initiative to voters in November 2023. The petition will now go to the Ohio ballot board for approval, which has 10 days to approve or reject it.
The two groups submitting the petition – Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights – gathered thousands of signatures from voters in the state to get the petition process started. The groups believe voters want the chance to vote directly on whether abortion rights should be protected in the state’s constitution.
Following the US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last summer an Ohio abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy immediately came into effect. That ban was put on hold by a state judge in October, restoring abortion rights in the state up to 22 weeks of pregnancy until further notice. But the groups wants to put the issue to rest once and for all by asking the people of Ohio to confirm that they believe abortion and reproductive health rights are protected by the state’s constitution.
The groups are in a race against the clock to get abortion on the November 2023 ballot, because a number of bills are passing through Ohio’s Republican legislature looking to weaken the citizen-led ballot initiative process. One such bill, which would increase the threshold at which a ballot initiative can be passed – from a simple majority to 60% of votes – has already been passed in the House and awaits debate in the Senate.
If it passes, that same question will go to voters on the November 2023 ballot. If abortion rights proponents manage to get their initiative on the ballot for November, their effort will only require clearing the current 50% threshold.
