What is the most important issue behind the economy for voters? According to a New York Times poll, it’s abortion. While the presidential election might be a year away, abortion is on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 7 in Ohio.
The ballot measure Issue 1 would change the state constitution to enshrine abortion rights if voters pass the amendment. Ohio is the only state with abortion on the ballot in this election cycle. According to a new ABC poll, 75% of Americans say abortion is an important issue.
Advocates and opponents of Issue 1 are stating two sets of answers to these key questions: Will the amendment allow abortions up to birth? Will it allow minors to get an abortion without parental consent?
Here’s the exact language of the law. The proposed amendment would “only allow the state to prohibit an abortion after an unborn child is determined by a pregnant woman’s physician to be viable.” It goes on to include an exception for the mother’s health. “Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician’s determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.”
This language has been interpreted in two ways. Advocates say abortions will be legal up until viability, which they define as around 23 to 24 weeks. Those against the measure say no number of weeks is stated in the amendment. The law leaves it up to physicians to determine viability.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) stands opposed to Issue 1.
“If you look at Issue 1 — it’s a radical proposal, and whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life, it just goes much, much too far,” DeWine said. “There is a wide exception written into this law, which talks about the health of the mother. The Supreme Court, the United States has defined this extremely broadly; [it] can mean health, can mean something having to do with her income, it can have something to do with how many children she has, and again, it is the person performing the abortion in the clinic who’s going to make that determination, and there’s no review of it.”
Another point of contention is whether the proposal will allow minors to get an abortion without their parents knowing. Abortion advocates point to no language written in the amendment about minors. Opponents say the language used is open to interpretation to include minors.
The proposed amendment would “establish in the constitution an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion.”
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Ohio’s six-week abortion ban went into effect briefly before being blocked by state courts. Current law allows abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. It does not have exceptions for rape or incest, but it does have a health exception for the mother.
More than $40 million worth of advertising has poured into the Ohio abortion ballot measure. The Vote Yes campaign has outspent its opponents three to one. Past polling of Ohioans signaled support for abortion rights. Ohio Northern University released a poll last week that revealed 65% of voters in the state believe abortion should be legal in most cases.