Ohio will hold a crucial vote on abortion access this November as a proposed amendment to safeguard abortion protections in the state constitution has secured enough valid signatures to

make it onto the ballot. The Ohio Secretary of State's Office announced the milestone after the measure officially submitted 495,938 valid signatures and met the required threshold in 55 counties. The constitutional amendment needed to gather 413,487 signatures, equivalent to 10% of the last governor's race vote, from 44 counties to qualify for the ballot.

Backers of the amendment presented over 700,000 signatures earlier this month, which underwent verification by local boards of election officials, removing duplicates and those from unregistered voters.

What Does the Amendment Encompass? If approved, the amendment will ensure that Ohioans retain the right to make their reproductive decisions, including choices related to contraception, fertility treatment, continuing pregnancies, miscarriage treatment, and abortion. However, the state would retain the ability to restrict access to abortion after the viability point. Viability refers to the stage at which a physician determines that the fetus has a significant chance of survival outside the uterus with reasonable medical measures. In cases where the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk, abortions may still be performed after viability.

Supporters argue that this amendment is crucial to protecting abortion access, especially after last year's overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. Following that ruling, Ohio implemented an abortion ban that prohibited the procedure after detecting cardiac activity, approximately six weeks into pregnancy. However, the ban is temporarily on hold, allowing abortion in the state until 21 weeks and six days into pregnancy.

On the other hand, opponents argue that this amendment goes too far and effectively removes any limitations on abortion in Ohio.

Upcoming Steps To progress further, the Ohio Ballot Board, consisting of five members, must approve the ballot language for November. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, chairs the board. LaRose has opposed the abortion measure and supported Issue 1, which seeks to raise the threshold required for amending the state constitution from a simple majority to 60%. The outcome of the August 8 election on Issue 1 will be a significant factor in the abortion measure's fate later this year, as Republican lawmakers have proposed the amendment to voters for consideration. Photo by Sixflashphoto, Wikimedia commons.