Ohio is the latest state in which voters will decide whether to enshrine in the state constitution the right to abortion that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
Abortion access advocates in that state say they have submitted more than enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to protect the right to an abortion up to fetal viability — or beyond, if necessary to protect the health of a pregnant person. They were required to collect 413,000 valid signatures of voters across the state. Last week, they turned in nearly 710,000 signatures. “Toward the end it was difficult to find someone who hadn’t signed it,” said Gabriel Mann, from the advocacy coalition, Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the decision on abortion to the states, reproductive rights advocates took that directive seriously.
