Ohio is a Test Case for Democracy

What happens with Issue 1 has national implications

Issue 1 supporters celebrate their victory in Ohio

This is a special addition/edition of the 11.27.23 issue of Abortion, Every Day

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All eyes are on Ohio, where the new abortion rights amendment goes into effect next week. Ever since voters sent the resoundingly clear message that they want abortion rights protected, Republican lawmakers and anti-choice activists have been trying to find ways to stop Issue 1 from being enacted—democracy be damned. Some are threatening to strip the judiciary of its power to enforce the amendment. Other, supposedly more ‘moderate’, legislators have suggested a ‘compromise’ 15-week ban. There’s even talk of redefining ‘abortion’ entirely as a way to render Issue 1 impotent.

What happens now is not just about Ohio: conservative legislators and the anti-abortion movement are creating a playbook that will serve as a model across the country. With multiple states pushing pro-choice ballot measures, whatever successes Ohio Republicans have in overruling or curtailing the will of the people will absolutely be exported. In fact, we’re already watching it happen:

Destroying Democracy to Ban Abortion

This week, the Associated Press reported on the anti-democratic attacks in Ohio, along with what happens next with the state’s anti-abortion laws—which weren’t automatically repealed when Issue 1 passed. From law professor Laura Hermer:

“A lot of that hard work of figuring out what state laws are inconsistent with the amendment and what state laws can remain…it’s difficult to imagine that the Legislature will say, ‘All right, you win. We’re going to repeal the heartbeat ban’ and so forth.”

Herner also points out something I mentioned last week: Because Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost argued in a legal brief that Issue 1 would invalidate anti-abortion laws in the state, “it’s going to make it a bit more difficult to hold those sorts of positions.”

That’s not going to stop Republicans from trying, though. Conservative legislators are facing a lot of pressure from anti-abortion groups, who want them to do whatever necessary to stop abortion rights from being protected in the state. The AP notes that the organization Faith2Action released a video, for example, that calls on lawmakers “to keep pro-abortion judges from repealing Ohio laws.”

The video also says something that should send a chill down your spine: that Dobbs didn’t give the power to decide abortion back to the citizens of the states, but “the people’s elected representatives.” It’s a line and ethos we’ve seen quite a lot of recently—the notion that abortion shouldn’t be put directly to voters because they already had a say when they elected their state representatives. (Never mind that gerrymandering has all but ensured Republican strongholds in certain places.)

As more states try to restore or protect abortion rights, we’re going to see this idea everywhere. That’s why Abortion, Every Day will continue to keep a close eye on Ohio over the next few weeks and months.

More on Republican hypocrisy in the state: I’m sure you remember Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who led the charge against Issue 1. LaRose drafted the biased ballot summary, for example, that voters saw instead of the actual amendment. And as the state’s chief election official, he also held a (failed) multi-million dollar special election to raise the standards on ballot measures. LaRose spent months working to mandate that amendments require 60% of the vote instead of a simple majority, claiming that he simply wanted to protect the state constitution from out-of-state ‘special interests.’

Now, however, LaRose seems less enthusiastic about making it harder to pass ballot measures—which might have something to do with the fact that anti-abortion activists and legislators may propose their own amendment to undo Issue 1.

In an interview about his Senate bid, LaRose claimed that his efforts to raise ballot measure standards were never just about abortion (he said in June that it was “100%” about abortion), and that he’s always prioritized the issue. But when asked if he’d launch another campaign to raise ballot measure standards, LaRose gave the tepid answer: “if we have the opportunity.” Naturally.

Also in Ohio, remember how the Catholic Church spent millions to stop Issue 1? The Ohio Capital Journal reports that the majority of that money came from parishioners. “That’s their main source of income,” Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson says. Even worse? Most of those parishioners don’t want abortion banned: 63% of Catholics believe should be legal in all or most cases and in a poll before Dobbs, 68% said Roe should be left alone.

For more on the attacks on democracy in Ohio, read some background here and my piece about the plan to stop Issue 1 by redefining abortion:

How to Kill Democracy, One Word at a Time

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A note from Jessica: 

Abortion rights news is only ramping up, so I’m working to split the daily newsletter into two emails to make things a bit more manageable. (For you and for me!) That’s why you’ll see messages like this one—special editions of the daily report that aren’t columns, but additions to the regular newsletter.

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