Washington- Republicans in the Ohio state legislature are threatening to strip state courts of their power to consider cases related to No. 1, the ballot measure. approved by voters Tuesday, which enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution.
A group of four Republican state lawmakers announced their plans in a news release Thursday, which also announced upcoming legislative action in response to voter approval of the reproductive rights initiative.
“Issue 1 does not repeal any Ohio law, in fact, it does not even mention one,” state Rep. Bill Dean said in a statement. “The language of the amendment is dangerously vague and unconstrained, and can be weaponized to attack parental rights or defend rapists, pedophiles and human traffickers.”
Ohio Republicans said state lawmakers “will consider removing jurisdiction from the judiciary over this ambiguous ballot initiative. The Ohio Legislature will alone consider what, if any, changes to the existing laws, based on public hearings and comments from legal experts on both sides.”
Republicans hold large majorities in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly. The state’s governor is Republican, and the seven-seat Ohio Supreme Court has a 4-3 Republican majority.
Ohio State Rep. Jennifer Gross also claimed that the No. 1 campaign was funded in part by foreign donations, saying, “this is foreign interference in the election.” , and it won’t hold. »
GOP lawmakers have not provided details on the legislation they plan to introduce.
Number 1
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Ohio voters passed No. 1 Tuesday by a margin of 56.6 percent to 43.4 percent, marking the first time a Republican-led state has guaranteed the right to abortion in its constitution. Approval of the measure extended abortion rights supporters’ winning streak after their approval. winner in all six states where abortion-related measures were directly on the ballot last year.
The constitutional amendment, titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Health and Safety Protections,” guarantees that every individual has the right to make their own decisions regarding abortion, contraception, treatment of fertility, miscarriage and continued pregnancy. It also allows the state to prohibit abortion after fetal viability, considered between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, except when necessary to protect the life or health of the mother.
Republicans opposed to the measure said it would allow parents to be excluded from medical decisions about their children and lead to abortions later in pregnancy. Less than 1% of all abortions performed in 2020 occurred at or after 21 weeks of gestation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Abortion rights advocates seek to fight strict abortion laws and protect abortion access through citizen-initiated voting measures following the decision of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade about 17 months ago. In addition to the campaign in Ohio that put the issue directly to voters, abortion rights groups are making similar efforts to place proposals guaranteeing reproductive rights on the ballot in Florida, in Arizona and Nevada in 2024.