COLUMBUS – The Ohio Supreme Court has denied a challenge to a ballot measure that will enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, clearing the way for the proposal to go before voters on Nov. 7.
In a unanimous decision, the justices denied the claim by a group of abortion opponents that a petition proposing a constitutional amendment is required to include the text of an existing law that would be repealed if the amendment passes.
The proposed amendment, titled the Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety, states that an individual’s right to make decisions about abortion, contraception and other reproductive health matters “shall not, directly or indirectly” be interfered with, up to the point of fetal viability.
Issue 1 brings voters out in droves
The abortion rights amendment will be able to pass with only a simple majority of the popular vote on since Ohioans voted down a proposal on August 8 that would have raised the threshold for approving constitutional amendments to 60% of the vote.
The hotly contested issue, accompanied by an advertising blitz on both sides, resulted in an unusually high turnout for an August election, according to data released by the office of Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
LaRose reported that 38% of registered voters, or more than 3 million, went to the polls.
Issue 1 was defeated by a 57% to 43% margin.
Turnout for August special elections is ordinarily so low that the Republican-dominated state legislature outlawed them, only to reverse itself a few months later in an effort to raise the bar for constitutional amendments before November’s vote.