COLUMBUS, Ohio — Abortion rights groups are gearing up to put reproductive rights on the ballot.
“We’re very concerned about what could happen when we get to that politicized court,” said Kelly Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio.
Pro-Choice Ohio is a part of a coalition with other pro-reproductive rights groups called, “Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom.” This includes Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the Abortion Fund of Ohio and other reproductive justice organizations.
“We have come together to put forward a ballot initiative to guarantee reproductive freedom for all Ohioans,” Copeland said.
The proposed amendment’s initial draft is complete. Copeland said they hired a third-party general consultant called Mission Control Inc. to oversee the proposal.
“Mission Control has experience on ballot initiatives, specifically about abortion in Kentucky, which is our neighbor in Kansas,” Copeland said.
“In 2022, we were energized by our victories in Kansas and Kentucky, which proved that protecting reproductive freedom at the state level is the key first step to building back our power. We were proud to be part of the teams that defeated those oppressive initiatives, and we’re thrilled to be joining Ohioans for reproductive freedom to build a robust campaign that will explicitly and permanently protect the reproductive rights of all Ohioans,” Mission Control’s principal Leticia Martinez said in a public statement.
Spectrum News reached out to Attorney General Dave Yost’s office and his press secretary responded by sending the appeal the AG filed in the Ohio Supreme Court.
The document cites Ohio’s Heartbeat Law. This bans most abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat.
“We also are gearing up to fight against any ballot initiative that planned parenthood and their allies are going to pursue,” said Michael Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.
Gonidakis said they know a proposal is coming out.
“We’re ready to take on whatever they pursue. But we believe that six weeks protecting babies with beating hearts is a standard that most Ohioans, at least half of them at least, would support and accept for sure,” Gonidakis said.
Pro-Choice Ohio said they are ready for what’s to come.
“We’re concerned that when we get to the Supreme Court of the state of Ohio that they will rule on an ideological and political basis and not follow the current constitution,” said Copeland. “So we think it’s necessary to create additional language in the constitution so that politics can never be used again to keep people from being able to make their own decisions about their own pregnancies.”
This is only the initial proposal of the amendment dedicated to abortion rights.
