Ohio House passes resolution that could impact attempt to add abortion to constitution
An Ohio resolution just passed by the House of State Representatives, raising the threshold for constitutional changes from a simple majority of votes to 60%, could boost a pro-abortion ballot initiative hoping to codify a abortion rights in the state.
Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR2) is huge. pass the Ohio House on Wednesday by a vote of 62-37 and “requires a vote of at least 60% of the voters to approve any constitutional amendment and change procedures for an initiative petition proposing the a constitutional amendment.”
The measure is set to appear on a special election ballot in August 2023.
“The August election could create a hurdle for abortion rights advocates,” reported WLWT.com.
pro-abortion ballot measure
Earlier this year, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom joined forces to submit a ballot measure that would enact a constitutional amendment in support of abortion in Ohio. Pro-abortion state ballot efforts have increased since June of 2022 when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade abortion decision including its decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protection for Health and Safety” provides that “[e]every individual has the right to make and exercise his or her own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuation of one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion” and that “[t]The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against any voluntary exercise of this right by an individual or a person or entity assisting an individual exercising this right, except if the State demonstrates that it uses the least restrictive means to promote the health of the individual in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.”
Although the proposal limits abortion after “viability,” a time defined as the point at which the fetus can survive outside the womb, the proposal also claims that it determined on a “case by case” basis.. In other words, if an abortionist decides that a fetus is not viable, at any gestational age, that child can be killed.
The language in the abortion amendment is egregious on many levels, but the smoke and mirrors on “fetal viability” are particularly egregious. It is defined as having “significant viability” outside the womb. So, if there is only “possibility of survival” – avoid abortion. https://t.co/tYUizRFiub
— Brian Stewart (@BrianStewartOH) February 21, 2023
For the pro-abortion ballot to be successful, supporters need to gather 412,591 signatures from registered voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties by July 5, 2023.
but”[r]Putting the threshold in August would mean abortion rights advocates would have to collect more support to get their proposal on the November ballot,” WLWT.com claimed in reference to the newly passed SJR2.
The lawmaker said the bill was “democratic.”
Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), who introduced the measure, stood on the House floor before the vote on clarify that “This resolution is a continuation of a debate that has been ongoing in Ohio for more than 100 years. More than what the Ohio Constitution – our governing document – should. What should be in it – what should not be in it. And the most important for today. how it should and should not be changed,” he stated.
Rep. said. Stewart that the state constitution “has become very susceptible to outside special interest groups seeking to change that document to achieve their own ends.”
“Putting this issue in front of Ohioans, that’s democratic,” he said. But some disagreed.
In response, Stewart said the Columbia Dispatch, “It simply asks Ohioans whether or not they want to approve the 60% limit by voting in a free and fair election. If that’s really someone’s idea of an attack on democracy, they need to turn off cable news, log off Twitter and come back to reality. The debate is not over yet.”
“SJR2 is not a new idea but it is an idea whose time has come,” said Rep. Stewart in the House. “So we have to set the record straight with some sneaky attacks.”
“First, SJR2 does not take away the rights of the people to propose changes to the Constitution through initiative petitions. Even if SJR2 is approved at the ballot box, the initiative petition method for constitutional amendments will be preserved even with a guardrail of sixty percent threshold for approval of amendments,” he said. “Number two, no SJR2 is unique. Thirty-two states do not allow any constitutional amendments to be proposed by outside groups. This includes Democrat-led states…”
Pro-lifers hope
Created by Equal founder Mark Harrington addressed a group of pro-lifers before the SJR2 poll.
Harrington warned that “all the work we’ve done over the past several decades, including the Heartbeat Bill, will be wiped out one day in November” if voters don’t raise the threshold for approving the Constitutional Amendment.
“Today is, second to the Heartbeat Bill, one of the most historic days this legislature will ever see,” Harrington said, “If we can raise this threshold to 60% – we will win,” he added.
