Ohio abortion rights groups submit signatures for November ballot measure

Abortion rights groups in Ohio said they submitted more than 700,000 signatures to place a measure on the Nov. 7 ballot that would codify abortion rights into the state constitution.

The minimum requirement to get a ballot measure placed is 413,446 signatures. The state’s secretary of state needs to certify the signatures, making sure there are no duplicates or other errors by July 25. 

The constitutional amendment calls for the establishment of “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” with “reasonable limits.” Similar to the standard established by Roe v. Wade, it would allow abortion up to the point of a fetus’s ability to survive outside the womb, typically about 24 weeks into a pregnancy. 

The language was previously approved by the state’s ballot board and attorney general.

“Today, we take a huge step forward in the fight for abortion access and reproductive freedom for all, to ensure that Ohioans and their families can make their own health care decisions without government interference,” Lauren Blauvelt and Kellie Copeland of Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom said in a joint statement.

Ohio passed a “heartbeat” abortion ban shortly after Roe was overturned last year. A state court put the law on hold in the fall.

Last summer, when the ban was in place, a 10-year-old rape victim went to Indiana to get an abortion because Ohio’s ban didn’t have exceptions for rape or incest. The law does include exceptions for the health of the pregnant woman and in cases of ectopic pregnancies.

As a result of the injunction, abortion is still legal for up to 22 weeks, but the Ohio Supreme Court could potentially reinstate the ban. 

While state officials work to certify the signatures, GOP lawmakers are simultaneously trying to change the state’s rules on ballot measures that have been in place for more than 100 years, threatening the measure’s success.

A court recently allowed an August special election to proceed that will allow lawmakers to raise the threshold of all future measures to a 60 percent supermajority. Abortion advocates contend the ballot measure was explicitly designed to make it more difficult for voters to pass their amendment.

To raise the threshold for all future elections, the measure in August will need a simple majority of 50 percent plus 1 to pass.