TL/DR –
Ohio voters have chosen to include abortion rights in the state’s constitution, making it the seventh state to protect abortion rights following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This decision has implications for the Republican party, especially in Arizona where the conservative Supreme Court is considering reinstating a law that criminalizes abortion. A similar initiative, the Arizona Abortion Access Act, is expected to be on the ballot next year.
Ohio Voters Secure Abortion Rights and Cause GOP Concern
Ohio voters have sent a clear message to Kari Lake and the Arizona Republican Party to be very afraid. Ohio’s conservative electorate recently embraced a citizen initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
This comes as Virginia voters gave Democrats control of the state’s General Assembly, despite Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s pledge to ban abortion after 15 weeks. Ohio is now the seventh state to protect abortion rights following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Arizona GOP Faces Abortion Rights Challenge
The GOP should be terrified, as the conservative Arizona Supreme Court contemplates returning to a Civil War-era law that criminalizes abortion. Furthermore, Arizona voters may put a similar proposal, the Arizona Abortion Access Act, on next year’s ballot.
Ohio’s abortion rights amendment passed with the support of nearly 57% voters, according to an ABC exit poll. This, in a state that previously voted twice for Donald Trump.
Ohio GOP Looks to Challenge Abortion Rights Decision
Issue 1, the Ohio ballot question that guarantees a constitutional right to abortion, should serve as a wake-up call to Ohio’s Republican legislature and governor, who in 2019 enacted a “heartbeat law” banning abortion after six weeks. However, the Ohio House speaker has stated that Tuesday’s decisive vote “is not the end of the conversation.”
In Arizona, the Legislature and then-Governor Doug Ducey last year passed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks. Now, the Scottsdale-based Alliance Defending Freedom has asked the state Supreme Court to declare that an 1864 law criminalizing abortion supersedes the 15-week ban.
Arizona’s Abortion Rights Proposal Mirrors Ohio’s
Arizona’s proposal to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right is similar to Ohio’s. This development has led to a shift in the rhetoric of Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, who previously referred to abortion as the “ultimate sin” and supported a “heartbeat bill” during her unsuccessful run for governor last year.
Arizona Abortion Rights Groups Gain Momentum from Ohio’s Win
Currently, Lake merely states on her Senate campaign website that she would oppose a national abortion ban, favoring state control instead. As Arizona’s abortion rights groups mobilize to collect the 383,923 valid signatures needed to put the issue on the November 2024 ballot, Republicans face a challenging task in swinging the formerly reliable red state back to their side.
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