Next Up for Ohio - Allowing Roe v Wade to Stand as State Law by State Constitutional Amendment.

An effort to guarantee access to abortion rights in Ohio, a November ballot measure, is already fueling misleading claims about how it could influence abortion care, gender-related health care and parental consent in the state.

The proposed constitutional amendment would give Ohioans the right to make their own reproductive decisions. Backers say that since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, the proposal would restore a commonsense abortion protection that most Ohio voters can support.

But opponents argue it would do far more than that. Ads portray the amendment as a gateway to children getting abortions and gender-related surgeries without their parents’ consent. Opponents also have falsely suggested the amendment would open doors to protecting abusers and legalizing infanticide.

Trapper Gus wrote:Pretty sure people in Ohio will see through all the Malarky that the opponents will throw at them, including the piss poor wording on the ballot approved by abortion opponents.

An effort to guarantee access to abortion rights in Ohio, a November ballot measure, is already fueling misleading claims about how it could influence abortion care, gender-related health care and parental consent in the state.

The proposed constitutional amendment would give Ohioans the right to make their own reproductive decisions. Backers say that since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, the proposal would restore a commonsense abortion protection that most Ohio voters can support.

But opponents argue it would do far more than that. Ads portray the amendment as a gateway to children getting abortions and gender-related surgeries without their parents’ consent. Opponents also have falsely suggested the amendment would open doors to protecting abusers and legalizing infanticide.

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-ohio-constitutional-amendment-election-misinformation-d7b3d8273389a432b011964c14959789

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Ballot Board approved language Thursday for a fall measure seeking to establish abortion access as a fundamental right, but one Democratic member blasted it as “rife with misleading and defective language.”

Among the revisions, the word “fetus” in the amendment was changed to “unborn child” in the ballot description.

The original language seeks to assure access to abortion through what is called viability, when the fetus is able to survive outside the womb. It states, “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability,” but not in cases where a treating physician deems the procedure necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.

LaRose’s summary turned that section on its head. It now says the amendment would “always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician’s determination” the life and health exception applies.

...state’s Republican attorney general, Dave Yost, certified the group’s original wording as fair and accurate and that 700,000 Ohioans read it when they signed petitions to get the measure on the fall ballot.

...

The measure, as initially envisioned, seeks to establish “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” with “reasonable limits.”

In language similar to a constitutional amendment that Michigan voters approved last November, it would require restrictions imposed past a fetus’ viability outside the womb — which is typically around the 24th week of pregnancy and long the standard under Roe v. Wade — the landmark case that assured nationwide abortion access until it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022.

Trapper Gus wrote:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Ballot Board approved language Thursday for a fall measure seeking to establish abortion access as a fundamental right, but one Democratic member blasted it as “rife with misleading and defective language.”

Among the revisions, the word “fetus” in the amendment was changed to “unborn child” in the ballot description.

The original language seeks to assure access to abortion through what is called viability, when the fetus is able to survive outside the womb. It states, “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability,” but not in cases where a treating physician deems the procedure necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.

LaRose’s summary turned that section on its head. It now says the amendment would “always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician’s determination” the life and health exception applies.

...state’s Republican attorney general, Dave Yost, certified the group’s original wording as fair and accurate and that 700,000 Ohioans read it when they signed petitions to get the measure on the fall ballot.

...

The measure, as initially envisioned, seeks to establish “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” with “reasonable limits.”

In language similar to a constitutional amendment that Michigan voters approved last November, it would require restrictions imposed past a fetus’ viability outside the womb — which is typically around the 24th week of pregnancy and long the standard under Roe v. Wade — the landmark case that assured nationwide abortion access until it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022.

https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-access-ballot-issue-election-2023-a628e9b323b8544847ace0a0504c5733

Just typical Republican bull shit about "owning the libs" any way they can.  I agree that the voters will see through the BS and support the amendment.

I do wonder about the legality, shouldn't the petition language be used?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In-person voting for a November ballot measure over abortion rights began Wednesday in Ohio, the latest state where voters will decide the issue after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to the procedure last year.

Trapper Gus wrote:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In-person voting for a November ballot measure over abortion rights began Wednesday in Ohio, the latest state where voters will decide the issue after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to the procedure last year.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2023-ohio-abortion-marijuana-early-voting-eaf1fce0cac0a309efd487e0f594ea8f

Trapper Gus wrote:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In-person voting for a November ballot measure over abortion rights began Wednesday in Ohio, the latest state where voters will decide the issue after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to the procedure last year.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2023-ohio-abortion-marijuana-early-voting-eaf1fce0cac0a309efd487e0f594ea8f

“‘Partial-birth abortion’ is a made-up term that only serves to create confusion and stigmatize abortion later in pregnancy,” she said. “It’s not a procedure that’s described anywhere in medical literature, and so it’s not considered a medical term or even an actual medical procedure.”

In ads, debates and public statements, the opposition campaign and top Republicans have increasingly been referencing “partial-birth abortions” as an imminent threat if voters approve the constitutional amendment on Nov. 7. “Partial-birth abortion” is a non-medical term for a procedure known as dilation and extraction, or D&X, which is already federally prohibited.

But there are plenty of opportunities for disinformation at home, too, for political purposes. In Ohio, the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate is using its official government website to push what Associate Press legal and medical experts say is “false or misleading” information against the proposed constitutional amendment the state’s voters will consider in the November 7 election. Their inflammatory language warns, for example, that the measure will “legalize abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy” and permit “the dismemberment of fully conscious children,” the rhetoric of anti-abortion activists.

Julie Carr Smyth and Christine Fernando of the Associated Press report that Republicans began their “On the Record” blog on the state Senate website after Ohio voters rejected their attempts to make it much harder to pass constitutional amendments. The Republicans bill the blog as an “online newsroom” where voters can find “the views the news excludes.” Republican Senate president Matt Huffman denied that the blog was a news service, but it sits under the “News” tab on the Senate’s website.

“My [Republican] colleagues say that this is done because the mainstream media won’t print their stuff,” Democratic state senator Bill DeMora told the reporters. “But of course, the mainstream media won’t pick this up because it’s factually incorrect and basically lies.”

But because the blog appears on an official government website, internet searches turn it up as a reliable source. Laura Manley, executive director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, told Smyth and Fernando: “It’s a really strategic way to make something appear to be neutral information and fact when that’s not the reality…. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

In an unusual move, the Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, quietly purged more than 26,000 voters from the rolls in late September. LaRose is a staunch opponent of the constitutional amendment and is himself running for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

In Ohio, early voter turnout is robust, and ads funded by millions in outside spending are blanketing the state’s airwaves as groups supporting and opposed to an abortion ballot measure make their closing arguments.

The outcome of Issue 1 is drawing tens of millions of dollars in out-of-state spending ahead of the November election. Much of it is coming from deep-pocketed nonprofit groups not required to disclose their donors.

Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights reported bringing in $28 million in contributions since the reporting period that began August 9. (Pro-Abortion Freedom)

Protect Women Ohio, the leading group spending money opposing Issue 1, reported raising $9.9 million...(Anti-Abortion Freedom)

Supporters of Issue 1 are also outspending their opponents on the airwaves and online. Data from AdImpact, a firm that tracks ad spending, showed $19.9 million in ad spending supporting Issue 1 and $13.4 million opposing it as of October 25.

A recent poll from Baldwin-Wallace University and Survey USA conducted in early October found 58 percent of Ohio voters supporting Issue 1 and 34 percent opposing it.

kingstonlake wrote:Horrible night MAGA in Ohio, VA, KY.

kingstonlake wrote:Sounds like moms for liberty took a beating as well.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:Time for redistricting. Turn Ohio blue.

GRR Spartan wrote:Almost like clockwork, Right to Life of Michigan has filed suit to block the voter approved abortion rights.

Remember when the right wingers were arguing big decisions should be left to the states without Federal Court interference?

Sounded like a plan until they realized a majority of voters don’t agree with them.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-lawmakers-michigan-life-sue-200530446.html

GRR Spartan wrote:Almost like clockwork, Right to Life of Michigan has filed suit to block the voter approved abortion rights.

Remember when the right wingers were arguing big decisions should be left to the states without Federal Court interference?

Sounded like a plan until they realized a majority of voters don’t agree with them.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-lawmakers-michigan-life-sue-200530446.html

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Bad news for Michigan border towns that relied on Ohio weed tourism dollars. Monroe is so fucked

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

I thought Monroe has a lot more than a few struggling weed stores...

I’m going to be straight with you traps I do not keep up with Monroe weed stores

Trapper Gus wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Bad news for Michigan border towns that relied on Ohio weed tourism dollars. Monroe is so fucked

I thought Monroe has a lot more than a few struggling weed stores...

“My hope is they will uphold the rule of law and the constitution,” she said.

Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy last week ordered lawyers for the state and a group of abortion clinics to tell the court how they believe the measure’s passage has affected a case involving Ohio’s ban on most abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, which has been on hold since October 2022.

A day after voters approved the amendment, U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett made a similar request of the parties in a long-running federal lawsuit challenging a set of state restrictions imposed on abortion providers’ operations. They included a requirement that clinics obtain agreements with a nearby hospital for emergency patient transfers, as well as a prohibition against public hospitals entering into those agreements.