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Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety [1] | |||||||||||||
Results | |||||||||||||
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Yes: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% No: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% |
Elections in Ohio |
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The 2023 Ohio reproductive rights initiative, [2] officially titled "The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety" and listed on the ballot as Issue 1, [3] was a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment adopted on November 7, 2023, by a majority (56.8%) of voters. It codified reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution, including contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and abortion up to the point of fetal viability, [a] restoring Roe v. Wade -era access to abortion in Ohio. [4]
In 2019, the state legislature passed a six-week ban on abortion in Ohio, without exceptions for rape or incest. [5] The statute became active after the Supreme Court of the United States held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. While the ban was in place, multiple children fled the state seeking abortions after being raped. [6] One such case involved a ten-year-old girl from Columbus, Ohio, who traveled to Indiana (where abortion was legal at the time) for the procedure, generating national attention and becoming a central campaign issue. [6] A state court put the ban on hold while a challenge alleging it violated the Ohio Constitution was heard. [7] Several members of the "no" campaign had called for bans on forms of birth control that prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg and in vitro fertilization if the initiative failed. [8] [9]
The "yes" campaign drew support from Ohio medical organizations, [10] doctors, [10] economists, [11] trade unions, [12] editorial boards, [12] reproductive rights groups, [12] and several religious organizations. [13] They argued that a "yes" vote would further limited government, protect bodily autonomy and religious liberty, while preventing interference with patient-physician privacy. [9] The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology, alongside other professional associations of doctors, campaigned in favor of Issue 1. [9] [14] In August 2023, former President Donald Trump, who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, condemned six-week abortion bans, including Ohio's, as going "too far" and a "terrible mistake". [15] [16] Religious groups were generally divided on the issue. [b] [13]
Ohio's Issue 1 was the first time since the Dobbs decision that voters of a red state [c] were asked whether to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitution. As such, the referendum's approval was widely interpreted as evidence for a national consensus in favor of broad abortion rights. [18] [19] Among those between 18 and 24 years old, an estimated 76% voted "yes" on Issue 1. [20] Some conservative political analysts and commentators called a continued alliance with the anti-abortion movement "untenable" and an "electoral disaster", and urged the party to adopt a more pro-choice stance on the issue. [21] Exit polling indicated that 61% of Ohioans agree that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, versus 37% who disagree. [22]
Be it Resolved by the People of the State of Ohio that Article I of the Ohio Constitution is amended to add the following Section:
Article I, Section 22. The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety
A. Every individual has a right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on:
B. The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either:
unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual's health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.
However, abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient's treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life or health.
C. As used in this Section:
D. This Section is self-executing.
In April 2019, the Ohio legislature passed and Governor Mike DeWine signed a "heartbeat bill" that banned abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, [5] which usually occurs about six weeks after conception, before many know they are pregnant. [23] The bill allowed exceptions for threats to the mother's life, but not for rape or incest. [5] The statute was blocked by a federal judge in July 2019, a week before going into effect. [24] It first became active three years later in July 2022, hours after the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization . [23] The Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states to impose unlimited restrictions on abortion access. [25] The statute was in effect for 82 days before a state court blocked it temporarily in September 2022, and ultimately blocked it indefinitely. [26] [27]
While the six-week abortion ban was in place, multiple children fled the state for abortions after being raped. [6] The most notable case involved a ten-year-old girl from Columbus, Ohio, who traveled to Indiana on June 30, 2022, to get an abortion. Her case drew national attention and commentary from public figures, due in part to its proximity to the June 24, 2022, decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs. [7] [28] [29] [30]
Her rapist was arrested by July 13. Before this arrest was made public, Ohio politicians who oppose legal abortion access called the story a hoax; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said, "Every day that goes by, the more likely that this is a fabrication." [31] After news of the arrest validated the Star's story, these sources did not apologize for claiming the story was a hoax. [32] Jim Bopp, the general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, said in an interview that the child should have been legally forced to carry the pregnancy to full term and give birth, and that "She would have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child." [33] In September 2022, shortly after Ohio's six-week abortion ban went into effect, a woman made national news when she almost bled to death after an Ohio hospital refused to treat her miscarriage. [34]
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, voters supported the "pro-choice" side in state referendums along overwhelming and bipartisan margins. [9] [35] In November 2022, Ohio's neighbor Michigan held a similar referendum, called Proposal 3, which passed 57%–43%. [9] While Michigan is considered a swing state, [9] Ohio is socially conservative: [36] Donald Trump won the state by 8% over Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. [37] In other red states, voters rejected measures intending to restrict abortion, such as in the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum and 2022 Kentucky Amendment 2. [9] Because Ohio's Issue 1 asked voters whether to explicitly protect abortion, it was widely expected to be a bellwether for the national opinion on abortion rights. [36]
On February 21, 2023, Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, the group leading support for the initiative, filed the amendment's language with the office of Ohio Attorney General, Dave Yost, [38] who certified it on March 2. The proposed amendment was then sent to the Ohio Ballot Board, [39] which further certified it on March 13, permitting supporters to begin collecting signatures. [4] On July 5, supporters filed 709,786 signatures, nearly 300,000 more than the minimum number required. The Ohio Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, certified the petition on July 25, 2023, after certifying 495,938 valid signatures, more than the approximately 410,000 required. [40]
The Ohio Republican Party tried to increase the threshold required for referendum passage to 60%, in an attempt to thwart the proposed constitutional amendment. The threshold change was put to public vote in an August 8 special election, known as August 2023 Ohio Issue 1. Voters rejected the change 57%–43%, keeping the threshold for passage at a simple majority. [41] It was defeated by a nearly identical margin to November 2023 Ohio Issue 1 passing three months later. [42]
On August 11, 2023, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously rejected a lawsuit –filed by Republican former state Representative Tom Brinkman and 2022 Republican state representative candidate Jenn Giroux –that would keep the initiative off the ballot. [43] [44]
The campaign for the initiative drew support from Ohio scientific and medical communities, [45] [46] economists, [11] trade unions, [12] editorial boards, [12] human rights, [12] and many religious organizations. They argued that the initiative would limit government, protect bodily autonomy and religious liberty, and prevent interference with personal medical decisions, including another situation similar to the aforementioned abortion case. [9] The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, alongside other professional associations of physicians, campaigned for the citizen-initiated constitutional amendment. [9] According to legal historian Mary Ziegler, "The main force behind the ballot initiative was physicians who said, 'We are not willing to practice medicine under this regime, and we think voters support us.'" [10]
While several Ohio's Catholic dioceses condemned the measure, many Catholic voters were expected to vote for "yes", along with several dissenting groups, including Catholics for Choice. [47]
Lizzie Marbach @LizzieMarbachThe use of birth control, IVF, & other unnatural means of "family planning" has brainwashed us into believing that WE are the authors of when life begins.
This belief has caused so much evil and ultimately led to the death of over 60 million babies due to abortion.
September 11, 2023 [48]
Shortly before the election, there was a major rift within the Ohio Right to Life (ORTL) organization. The campaign suffered from intense infighting after comments made by Lizzie Marbach, the organization's communications director. [49] Marbach called for restrictions or bans on birth control and in vitro fertilization, after which she was fired in mid-August 2023. [49]
Marbach also described an image of the Virgin Mary in a Mexican Catholic church as "idolatry". Several Catholic anti-abortion activists urged opponents of the measure to not cast a ballot, or, cast one intentionally spoiled as a protest vote in the wake of the controversy, stating that the "against" campaign was furthering anti-Catholicism. [49]
Proponents of the amendment initially suggested that the amendment appear in full on voters' ballots in November. However, the Ohio Ballot Board substituted its own summary wording to appear before voters. The summary, written by Ohio Secretary of State and Republican Senate candidate Frank LaRose and approved by the Ballot Board's Republican majority, received criticism for its allegedly biased language, including opting for the phrase "unborn child" over the medically accurate term "fetus" and omitting reference to other rights the proposed amendment would protect, including contraception, miscarriage care, and fertility treatment. Abortion rights groups sued to have the full text of the amendment presented on the ballot, but the Republican majority on the Ohio Supreme Court sided with the Ballot Board, allowing the language to appear in the ballot summary. [50]
The Ballot Board's summary received criticism from medical groups as well as some voices opposed to legal abortion access, who have described it as deliberately deceiving voters to vote "no" under false pretexts. [51] Conservative columnist Jude Russo wrote, "We have failed to persuade the American people. Simply put: Lawyerly tricks (and tricky lawyers) are losers. Asking the commons to cede power voluntarily is a loser." [52] The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated, "The language used to discuss abortion has a profound impact on how people form their opinions about reproductive health care, and the emotionally charged language that will now be presented to voters is neither clinically nor legally sound." [51]
The Issue 1 election generated widespread misinformation. Several factors contributed to voter confusion, including back-to-back ballot questions, duplicate naming of ballot measures, reversed position of the ballot measures, controversy over ballot language, misleading terminology, and misinformation campaigns. [53] [54] [55]
Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion groups –particularly American Policy Roundtable, Ohio Right to Life, and the Center for Christian Virtue –disseminated false claims that the amendment would allow unrestricted abortions up to birth and for minors to obtain abortions without parental consent, among other abortion misinformation. [56] These misleading assertions were strategically spread through digital advertisements and offline events, [57] as well as on a blog on the official Ohio Senate website, gaining prominence in search engine results for coming from a government source. [58]
Advertisements from the "no" campaign claimed that the referendum would take away parental rights and force sex reassignment surgery on children. The claims received widespread criticism from legal experts, who described them as baseless and misleading. [59] Constitutional law expert Jonathan Entin wrote: [59]
If you drink too much alcohol, if you ingest certain drugs, if you drive too fast –all of those things could have shorter or longer term implications for your ability to reproduce... That doesn't mean that speed limits and drug laws and alcohol regulations are somehow going to be affected by this amendment if it's adopted.
Catholic anti-abortion columnist Mary Pezzulo criticized the advertisements for discussing parental rights while ignoring the anti-abortion movement's mission to "protect the lives of unborn babies". She wrote, "They're lying to get people to vote against Issue 1." [60]
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Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size [d] | Margin of error | For | Against | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Data for Progress [114] | October 31–November 2, 2023 | 582 (LV) | ± 4% | 57% | 40% | 3% |
Ohio Northern University [115] | October 16–19, 2023 | 668 (RV) | ± 3.8% | 60% | 40% | - |
Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute [116] | October 9–11, 2023 | 569 (RV) | ± 4.5% | 58% | 34% | 8% |
Fallon Research & Communications, Inc. [117] | August 22–25, 2023 | 501 (RV) | ± 4.37% | 55% | 35% | 10% |
Ohio Northern University [118] | July 17–26, 2023 | 675 (LV) | ± 3.7% | 54% | 30% | 16% |
USA Today/Suffolk University [119] | July 9–12, 2023 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 58% | 32% | 10% |
Scripps News/YouGov [120] | June 20–22, 2023 | 500 (LV) | ± 5.95% | 58% | 23% | 20% |
Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute [121] | September 30–October 3, 2022 | 856 (RV) | ± 2.8% | 59% | 27% | 14% |
Committee | Position | Contributions | Expenditures [a] |
---|---|---|---|
Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights | Support | $42,500,000 | $42,400,000 |
Protect Women Ohio | Oppose | $30,400,000 | $30,800,000 |
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom PAC | Support | $8,900,000 | $8,700,000 |
Protect Women Ohio Action | Oppose | $5,700,000 | $5,700,000 |
Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights PAC | Support | $2,300,000 | $2,300,000 |
Donors | Position | Contributions |
---|---|---|
The Concord Fund/Judicial Crisis Network | Oppose | $25,000,000 |
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America | Oppose | $12,500,000 |
Protect Women Ohio Action | Oppose | $9,700,000 |
Sixteen Thirty Fund | Support | $5,500,000 |
Open Society Policy Center | Support | $3,500,000 |
Catholic Dioceses of Ohio | Oppose | $2,200,000 |
American Civil Liberties Union | Support | $2,200,000 |
Fairness Project | Support | $2,400,000 |
Lynn Schusterman | Support | $1,500,000 |
Planned Parenthood Action Fund | Support | $1,500,000 |
Knights of Columbus | Oppose | $1,000,000 |
Michael Bloomberg | Support | $1,000,000 |
Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer | Support | $1,000,000 |
Abigail Wexner | Support | $1,000,000 |
Yes received 56.78% of the vote, compared to 43.22% of the vote for No, a margin of 13.56%.
County | Yes | Votes | No | Votes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adams | 31.6% | 2,443 | 68.4% | 5,287 |
Allen | 35.4% | 10,978 | 64.6% | 20,029 |
Ashland | 42.0% | 7,655 | 58.0% | 10,573 |
Ashtabula | 54.5% | 16,569 | 45.5% | 13,841 |
Athens | 72.6% | 13,515 | 27.4% | 5,112 |
Auglaize | 26.6% | 4,688 | 73.4% | 12,915 |
Belmont | 40.5% | 7,645 | 59.5% | 11,252 |
Brown | 36.1% | 4,852 | 63.9% | 8,578 |
Butler | 50.8% | 59,150 | 49.2% | 57,305 |
Carroll | 39.3% | 3,630 | 60.7% | 5,609 |
Champaign | 41.4% | 5,601 | 58.6% | 7,936 |
Clark | 50.6% | 20,870 | 49.4% | 20,373 |
Clermont | 48.3% | 36,208 | 51.7% | 38,753 |
Clinton | 40.1% | 5,350 | 59.9% | 7,995 |
Columbiana | 43.9% | 14,132 | 56.1% | 18,040 |
Coshocton | 47.4% | 5,228 | 52.6% | 5,813 |
Crawford | 40.0% | 5,184 | 60.0% | 7,761 |
Cuyahoga | 74.4% | 295,406 | 25.6% | 101,555 |
Darke | 27.6% | 5,016 | 72.4% | 13,146 |
Defiance | 38.9% | 4,966 | 61.1% | 7,810 |
Delaware | 59.3% | 57,116 | 40.7% | 39,195 |
Erie | 57.1% | 16,085 | 42.9% | 12,093 |
Fairfield | 51.4% | 28,410 | 48.6% | 26,818 |
Fayette | 40.7% | 3,303 | 59.3% | 4,814 |
Franklin | 72.9% | 308,379 | 27.1% | 114,637 |
Fulton | 38.6% | 5,935 | 61.4% | 9,424 |
Gallia | 31.6% | 2,373 | 68.4% | 5,139 |
Geauga | 54.7% | 22,327 | 45.3% | 18,503 |
Greene | 49.3% | 30,635 | 50.7% | 31,507 |
Guernsey | 46.8% | 5,288 | 53.2% | 6,005 |
Hamilton | 65.1% | 186,175 | 34.9% | 99,819 |
Hancock | 40.3% | 10,552 | 59.7% | 15,621 |
Hardin | 41.3% | 3,408 | 58.7% | 4,843 |
Harrison | 38.0% | 1,741 | 62.0% | 2,839 |
Henry | 35.6% | 3,507 | 64.4% | 6,347 |
Highland | 33.7% | 4,005 | 66.3% | 7,880 |
Hocking | 47.8% | 4,287 | 52.2% | 4,674 |
Holmes | 24.6% | 2,156 | 75.4% | 6,599 |
Huron | 44.1% | 7,922 | 55.9% | 10,055 |
Jackson | 37.6% | 3,117 | 62.4% | 5,178 |
Jefferson | 40.7% | 8,090 | 59.3% | 11,808 |
Knox | 42.1% | 9,384 | 57.9% | 12,898 |
Lake | 60.5% | 54,337 | 39.5% | 35,504 |
Lawrence | 33.9% | 5,647 | 66.1% | 11,002 |
Licking | 50.9% | 31,815 | 49.1% | 30,748 |
Logan | 37.4% | 5,824 | 62.6% | 9,736 |
Lorain | 62.6% | 69,097 | 37.4% | 41,315 |
Lucas | 63.9% | 76,197 | 36.1% | 43,012 |
Madison | 46.8% | 6,487 | 53.2% | 7,364 |
Mahoning | 56.3% | 42,604 | 43.7% | 33,015 |
Marion | 49.5% | 9,325 | 50.5% | 9,519 |
Medina | 55.2% | 41,006 | 44.8% | 33,242 |
Meigs | 36.1% | 2,366 | 63.9% | 4,179 |
Mercer | 21.5% | 3,796 | 78.5% | 13,850 |
Miami | 39.6% | 15,932 | 60.4% | 24,258 |
Monroe | 32.6% | 1,355 | 67.4% | 2,797 |
Montgomery | 59.3% | 100,475 | 40.7% | 69,021 |
Morgan | 42.3% | 1,933 | 57.7% | 2,641 |
Morrow | 39.9% | 5,209 | 60.1% | 7,860 |
Muskingum | 46.2% | 11,620 | 53.8% | 13,522 |
Noble | 36.1% | 1,494 | 63.9% | 2,646 |
Ottawa | 52.9% | 9,061 | 47.1% | 8,056 |
Paulding | 28.9% | 1,824 | 71.1% | 4,480 |
Perry | 42.0% | 4,759 | 58.0% | 6,560 |
Pickaway | 44.8% | 8,490 | 55.2% | 10,461 |
Pike | 39.2% | 2,957 | 60.8% | 4,594 |
Portage | 60.9% | 35,147 | 39.1% | 22,547 |
Preble | 37.0% | 5,226 | 63.0% | 8,913 |
Putnam | 16.8% | 2,430 | 83.2% | 12,051 |
Richland | 42.6% | 17,124 | 57.4% | 23,050 |
Ross | 48.4% | 10,372 | 51.6% | 11,068 |
Sandusky | 45.4% | 9,270 | 54.6% | 11,142 |
Scioto | 36.7% | 6,566 | 63.3% | 11,321 |
Seneca | 40.2% | 7,179 | 59.8% | 10,692 |
Shelby | 24.3% | 4,274 | 75.7% | 13,316 |
Stark | 53.3% | 67,949 | 46.7% | 59,629 |
Summit | 65.5% | 126,531 | 34.5% | 66,755 |
Trumbull | 57.4% | 37,093 | 42.6% | 27,495 |
Tuscarawas | 46.3% | 13,219 | 53.7% | 15,319 |
Union | 51.0% | 13,209 | 49.0% | 12,706 |
Van Wert | 29.0% | 2,809 | 71.0% | 6,864 |
Vinton | 37.6% | 1,283 | 62.4% | 2,127 |
Warren | 47.5% | 43,463 | 52.5% | 47,963 |
Washington | 40.6% | 8,022 | 59.4% | 11,715 |
Wayne | 42.4% | 15,911 | 57.6% | 21,589 |
Williams | 36.9% | 4,481 | 63.1% | 7,658 |
Wood | 55.2% | 25,929 | 44.8% | 21,037 |
Wyandot | 38.7% | 3,006 | 61.3% | 4,762 |
"Yes" won 9 of 15 congressional districts, including four that are represented by Republicans. [125]
District | Yes | No | Representative |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 63% | 37% | Greg Landsman |
2nd | 42% | 58% | Brad Wenstrup |
3rd | 76% | 24% | Joyce Beatty |
4th | 46% | 54% | Jim Jordan |
5th | 47% | 53% | Bob Latta |
6th | 47% | 53% | Bill Johnson |
7th | 59% | 41% | Max Miller |
8th | 49% | 51% | Warren Davidson |
9th | 56% | 44% | Marcy Kaptur |
10th | 57% | 43% | Mike Turner |
11th | 83% | 17% | Shontel Brown |
12th | 49.6% | 50.4% | Troy Balderson |
13th | 62% | 38% | Emilia Sykes |
14th | 58% | 42% | David Joyce |
15th | 59% | 41% | Mike Carey |
Within a day of the close of polling, Ohio's top Republican legislative leaders suggested that action would be taken against the new abortion rights granted by Issue 1. [126] Ohio Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens said that Issue 1 is "not the end of the conversation" because there are "multiple paths that we will explore to continue to protect innocent life." A spokesperson for Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman reacted to the result: "This isn't the end. It is really just the beginning of a revolving door of ballot campaigns to repeal or replace Issue 1." [127]
Two days after the result, Ohio State Representatives Jennifer Gross, Bill Dean, Melanie Miller, and Beth Lear, all Republicans, released a statement calling Issue 1 "deceptive", declaring that "Ohio legislators will consider removing jurisdiction from the judiciary over this ambiguous ballot initiative" so that only Ohio legislators can "consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws", instead of Ohio courts. [128]
Rick Santorum, a Republican and former U.S. Senator, commented on the simultaneous passage of Issue 1 and Issue 2, the latter of which legalized recreational marijuana: "You put very sexy things like abortion and marijuana on the ballot, and a lot of young people come out and vote. It was a secret sauce for disaster in Ohio ... pure democracies are not the way to run a country." [129] [130] Conservative commentator Sean Hannity urged Republicans to adopt a "safe, legal, and rare" framework on abortion. [21]
According to Jessie Hill, professor and associate dean at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, the only way the Issue 1 amendment could be challenged is if there were a change to federal law regarding abortion or if another Ohio constitutional amendment restricting abortion was passed, which would require a majority vote in an election. [131]
On December 15, 2023, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the state of Ohio's challenge to a lower court ruling from Hamilton County which stayed Ohio's six-week abortion ban. In March 2023, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to review the matter following a challenge from the state. However, following the passage of Issue 1, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the matter, citing a change in the law. [132]
Demographic subgroup [133] | Yes | No | % of total vote | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total vote | 56.78 | 43.22 | 100 | |
Age | ||||
18–29 years old | 77 | 23 | 12 | |
30–44 years old | 68 | 32 | 23 | |
45–64 years old | 53 | 47 | 35 | |
65+ years old | 45 | 55 | 30 | |
Party ID | ||||
Democrat | 92 | 8 | 32 | |
Republican | 18 | 82 | 35 | |
Independent | 64 | 36 | 33 | |
Ideology | ||||
Liberal | 94 | 6 | 34 | |
Moderate | 69 | 31 | 30 | |
Conservative | 13 | 87 | 36 | |
Marital Status | ||||
Married | 51 | 49 | 61 | |
Unmarried | 67 | 33 | 39 | |
Married With Children? | ||||
Yes | 56 | 44 | 23 | |
No | 57 | 43 | 77 | |
Race | ||||
White | 53 | 47 | 85 | |
Black | 83 | 17 | 10 | |
Latino | 73 | 27 | 3 | |
Asian | N/A | N/A | 1 | |
Other | N/A | N/A | 1 | |
Gender | ||||
Male | 53 | 47 | 47 | |
Female | 60 | 40 | 53 | |
Area Type | ||||
Urban | 70 | 30 | 40 | |
Suburban | 52 | 48 | 43 | |
Rural | 40 | 60 | 18 | |
Abortion Should Be | ||||
Legal In All Cases | 96 | 4 | 28 | |
Legal In Most Cases | 83 | 17 | 33 | |
Illegal In Most Cases | 6 | 94 | 25 | |
Illegal In All Cases | 3 | 97 | 12 | |
White Born-Again or Evangelical Christian | ||||
Yes | 24 | 76 | 30 | |
No | 71 | 29 | 70 | |
Parents | ||||
Men With Children | 53 | 47 | 14 | |
Women With Children | 62 | 38 | 16 | |
Men Without Children | 54 | 46 | 33 | |
Women Without Children | 59 | 41 | 37 | |
Education | ||||
Never Attended College | 42 | 58 | 18 | |
Some College | 60 | 40 | 23 | |
Associate degree | 54 | 46 | 14 | |
Bachelor's Degree | 58 | 42 | 25 | |
Advanced Degree | 68 | 32 | 19 | |
Union Household | ||||
Yes | 58 | 42 | 30 | |
No | 57 | 43 | 70 | |
Feelings About Roe Being Overturned | ||||
Enthusiastic | 7 | 93 | 18 | |
Satisfied | 21 | 79 | 18 | |
Dissatisfied | 68 | 32 | 22 | |
Angry | 93 | 7 | 38 | |
2020 Presidential Vote | ||||
Biden | 92 | 8 | 45 | |
Trump | 19 | 81 | 43 | |
Another Candidate | 65 | 35 | 5 | |
Did Not Vote | 71 | 29 | 4 | |
Biden Approval | ||||
Strongly Approve | 94 | 6 | 15 | |
Somewhat Approve | 91 | 9 | 24 | |
Somewhat Disapprove | 72 | 28 | 13 | |
Strongly Disapprove | 23 | 77 | 46 |
The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly, depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction, although there is no uniform federal law. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions; others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while some allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements.
David Anthony Yost is an American politician and lawyer who currently serves as the 51st Attorney General of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, Yost previously served as Ohio State Auditor.
Frank LaRose is an American politician who has served as the 51st Secretary of State of Ohio since January 2019. He was a Republican member of the Ohio State Senate for two terms, from January 2011 to January 2019. He was a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election, challenging incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown. He lost to Bernie Moreno in the primary.
Abortion in Ohio is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of abortion rights being placed into the Ohio State Constitution by November 2023 Ohio Issue 1.
Abortion in Florida is generally illegal after six weeks from the woman's last menstrual period, This law came into effect in May 2024, being approved by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis following its passage in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate, with only Republican state legislators supporting. Additionally, pregnant women are generally required to make two visits to a medical facility 24 hours apart to be able to obtain an abortion, in a law approved by Republican Governor Rick Scott in 2015.
The 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Kansas, with primary elections taking place on August 2, 2022. Governor Laura Kelly ran for re-election to a second term, facing Republican State Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the general election. Kelly defeated Schmidt by a margin of roughly 2.2 percentage points.
The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative, listed on the ballot as Issue 2, is a ballot initiative for legalization of cannabis in the U.S. state of Ohio that was passed by voters on November 7, 2023.
The 2022 Michigan elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, throughout Michigan. The Democratic Party made historic gains, taking full control of state government for the first time since 1983 and marking a point where Democrats held all four elected statewide offices, both U.S. Senate seats, and both chambers of the Michigan Legislature. Democrats won control of the Michigan House of Representatives for the first time since 2008, and the Michigan Senate for the first time since 1984. Additionally, incumbent Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer won reelection by a comfortable margin, with Democrats sweeping every statewide office. Furthermore, the Democrats maintained control of seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Republican Party took a net loss of one seat. The elections in Michigan were widely characterized as a "blue wave".
The 2022 Kansas abortion referendum was a rejected legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the Kansas Constitution that appeared on the ballot on August 2, 2022, alongside primary elections for statewide offices, with early voting from July 13. If enacted, the amendment would have declared that the Kansas Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion, giving the Kansas state government power to prosecute individuals involved in abortions, and further declared that the Kansas government is not required to fund abortions.
Proposition 1, titled Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom and initially known as Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 (SCA 10), was a California ballot proposition and state constitutional amendment that was voted on in the 2022 general election on November 8. Passing with more than two-thirds of the vote, the proposition amended the Constitution of California to explicitly grant the right to an abortion and contraceptives, making California among the first states in the nation to codify the right. The decision to propose the codification of abortion rights in the state constitution was precipitated in May 2022 by Politico's publishing of a leaked draft opinion showing the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The decision reversed judicial precedent that previously held that the United States Constitution protected the right to an abortion.
2022 Michigan Proposal 3, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, also known as Reproductive Freedom for All, was a citizen-initiated proposed constitutional amendment in the state of Michigan, which was voted on as part of the 2022 Michigan elections. The amendment, which passed, codified reproductive rights, including access to abortion, in the Constitution of Michigan.
A special election was held in the U.S. state of Ohio on August 8, 2023, on a referendum to make it substantially harder for voter-led initiatives intending to amend the Ohio State Constitution to be proposed and approved.
The 2024 Maryland Question 1 was a voter referendum that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2024. It established in the Constitution of Maryland a right to reproductive freedom. The referendum was approved overwhelmingly, with more than three times as many voters voting in favor of it than against it, and only losing in Garrett County.
Florida Amendment 4 was a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution, which failed on November 5, 2024. Through a statewide referendum, the amendment achieved 57% support among voters in the U.S. state of Florida, short of the 60% supermajority required by law. Despite its failure to pass, the double digit percentage majority that it received is considered by some to be indicative of a nationwide consensus on abortion, similar to similar referendums in other moderately conservative swing states such as Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, and Arizona, the last of which had an abortion rights amendment pass with a 3/5 majority, although unlike Florida it did not actually need one.
The 2022 Vermont reproductive rights initiative, officially titled the "Reproductive Liberty Amendment", and listed on the ballot as Proposition 5, was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that was adopted on November 8, 2022, by a landslide majority of 76.8% of voters. It codified reproductive rights in the Constitution of Vermont. It was signed into the constitution by Republican governor Phil Scott on 13 December 2022.
New York Proposal 1, called the Amendment to Protect Against Unequal Treatment on the ballot, was a proposed legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the New York Constitution, which was approved by voters on November 5, 2024 and will take effect on January 1, 2025. Also informally known as the Equal Rights Amendment, it includes several rights in the New York State Constitution's Equal Protection Clause with its chief purpose to preserve the right to abortion. It also adds a prohibition of discrimination on attributes such ethnicity, gender identity, disability, or reproductive autonomy. The amendment was approved in consecutive legislating sessions in 2022 and 2023 and was approved by voters in a referendum on November 5, 2024. While the text of the amendment was determined by the legislature, the wording of the ballot proposal about the amendment went through several changes and legal challenges before the Board of Elections' draft was replaced by an Albany County Judge.
South Dakota Amendment G was a proposed constitutional amendment that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2024. If passed, the amendment would have established a right to abortion in the Constitution of South Dakota up until approximately the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy. The amendment failed to pass, making it the second referendum about abortion since Dobbs to come out as anti-abortion and preserve the state's ban.
2024 Colorado Amendment 79 was a constitutional amendment that appeared on the November 5, 2024 ballot. The amendment established a right to abortion in the Constitution of Colorado and repealed a constitutional ban on public funding for abortions. The amendment passed, surpassing the 55% supermajority vote required for the amendment to be approved.
The 2024 Ohio redistricting commission initiative was a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment, Issue 1 on the ballot, that was defeated 53.7% to 46.3% in the November 2024 election. If passed, the amendment would have replaced the existing politician-led Ohio Redistricting Commission with a 15-member commission of Ohio citizens selected from a pool by a panel of retired judges, to redraw congressional and legislative districts.
Initiative 128 was a ballot initiative that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2024, to establish in the Constitution of Montana a right to abortion up to fetal viability. The initiative was approved by 58 percent of voters.
Abortions would be allowed if the woman's life is in danger, but it contains no exceptions for rape or incest.
Florida, Ohio, Georgia, and Iowa all have the sort of pro-life laws that Trump is now condemning.