Biden touts passage of Ohio abortion measure: ‘Democracy won’

President Biden released a statement following Ohio voters passing a ballot measure enshrining abortion protection in the state constitution.

“Tonight, Americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms – and democracy won,” Biden’s statement said.

The constitutional amendment – Issue 1, the Right to Reproductive Freedom – protects access to abortion up until fetal viability, with exceptions for the life and health of the patient beyond that point.

The measure is expected to pass, according to Decision Desk HQ, and is a major win for Democrats and abortion rights advocates ahead of 2024 elections. It’s the first time that advocates have been able to pass abortion protections in a state that has trended red in recent years.

“Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide,” Biden’s statement said.

Biden said his administration will continue to protect reproductive health care access and call on Congress to restore protections granted under Roe v. Wade.

Vice President Harris released a statement of her own after voters approved the amendment.

“The results in Ohio underscore what the vast majority of Americans believe: politicians should not interfere in decisions that should be between a woman and her doctor,” Harris’s statement said. “Voters turned out to safeguard reproductive rights and prevent extremists from enforcing an abortion ban that would harm women and criminalize doctors.”

Ohio became a focal point last year, when a 10-year-old rape victim was forced to travel out of state to receive access to an abortion.

Abortion is currently legal in the state up to 22 weeks of gestation, but the Ohio Supreme Court is weighing a six-week ban that is on hold.