COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court has denied the legal challenge made by two abortion opponents on a proposed constitutional amendment, Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.
Last month, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose approved the abortion measure for November's ballot. Days later, two abortion opponents filed a new lawsuit asserting that it should not go before voters because the measure does not state which laws would have to be repealed if it's adopted.
According to Friday's unanimous decision from the court, the challenge was denied on the basis that the opponents have not shown that Ohio law requires the invalidation of the petition.
The November ballot question will ask voters whether individuals should have the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, including contraception, abortion, fertility treatment and miscarriage care.
Abortion wasn't technically on the ballot in Ohio's special election last week. But the overwhelming defeat of a measure that would have made it tougher to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution this fall was the latest indicator that the issue remains a powerful force at the ballot box.
The election saw record turnout for what's typically a sleepy August election date and sets up another battle in November, when Ohio will be the only state this year to have reproductive rights on the ballot. It also gives hope to Democrats and other abortion rights supporters who say the matter could sway voters their way again in 2024.
Democrats described the victory in Ohio, a one-time battleground state that has shifted markedly to the right, as a “major warning sign” for the GOP.
The measure voters rejected Tuesday, known as Issue 1, would have required ballot questions to pass with 60% of the vote rather than a simple majority. With the count nearly completed, votes against the measure, or No votes, received 57% compared with 43% in favor, a lead of almost 430,000 votes.