Ohio Abortion Amendment Advocates Want Full Text of Initiative to Appear on the Ballot

The Ohio Ballot Board is set to vote Thursday on the language of a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights into the state constitution. 

Supporters of the amendment are advocating for the full text of the amendment to appear on the ballot, allowing voters to access the entire proposal when they cast ballots in November, according to reporting from the Ohio Capital Journal.  

Earlier this month, Ohio voters rejected a measure, known as “Issue 1” that would have raised the threshold to pass a voter-initiated amendment from a simple majority to a 60% majority, making it harder to pass constitutional amendments. The rejection of Issue 1 was a loss for anti-abortion advocates because the measure was largely seen as a way to prevent the state’s abortion amendment from making the ballot. 

On Monday, Donald McTigue, the lawyer representing petitioners for the amendment, wrote to GOP Secretary of State Frank LaRose, saying that by “using the full text [of the amendment], voters will see for themselves the language they are being asked to approve and can make a free and independent decision on this fundamental question,” according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Opponents of the the amendment, which is titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom With Protections for Health and Safety,” have falsely claimed that the ballot initiative could effect parental rights and that it would also permit "late-term abortions", noted the Ohio Capital Journal.

A representative from Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the coalition spearheading the effort to pass the constitutional amendment said in a statement: “Any attempt to alter wording away from the text of the amendment should be seen for what it is: an attempt to confuse and mislead voters,” reported the Ohio Capital Journal.