Pro-abortion groups in Ohio have submitted text for a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion in the state that mirrors a similar amendment adopted in Michigan last November.
Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom delivered the text to Republican Attorney General Dave Yost’s office Tuesday.
“Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion,” the amendment would read, according to text submitted by the groups. (RELATED: Social Worker Pressured 15-Year-Old Virginia Girl Into Aborting Baby She Meant To Carry To Term, Lawsuit Alleges)
“The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either an individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or a person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.”
Ohio’s proposed constitutional amendment benefits the abortion industry, not women or their babies. As physicians, we cannot support efforts to strip women (esp. minors & trafficking victims), pain-capable children in the womb, and others of protection against abortion’s harms.
— AAPLOG (@aaplog) February 21, 2023
The amendment would allow restrictions on abortion after “fetal viability,” when the baby has a significant chance of surviving outside the womb, but not in cases where the life of the mother is threatened by the pregnancy. Ohio currently bans abortion at six weeks gestation.
“The abortion lobby is trying to force Ohio to allow abortion at any time, for any reason, up until birth,” Ohio state representative Jena Powell told the Daily Caller. “This initiative would eliminate nearly every protection for pre-born children and women, including parental consent. Ohioans have repeatedly made it clear that we do not want that extremism in our state. Ohioans support life and we must protect every unborn child.”
The text of the amendment is similar to Prop 3 in Michigan, which amended the state constitution to establish a constitutional right to an abortion. Michigan’s amendment does allow the state to regulate abortion up to 24 weeks gestation.
A group of pro-life OBGYNs condemned the proposed amendment in a statement Monday.
“Ohio’s proposed constitutional amendment benefits the abortion industry, not women or their babies. As physicians, we cannot support efforts to strip women (esp. minors & trafficking victims), pain-capable children in the womb, and others of protection against abortion’s harms,” they said in a tweet.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller that the proposed amendment was “radical.”
“It would ultimately endanger women and children by eliminating basic health and safety standards, and even cancel the rights of parents who deserve to be informed and consent before their underage daughters would undergo such procedures,” she said. “This extreme proposal must be rejected.”
But supporters of the amendment say it is a necessary protection for women following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health center, which ruled that a constitutional right to abortion did not exist. Ohio currently bans abortion at six weeks gestation.
“Ohioans are perilously close to losing access to safe, legal, comprehensive reproductive medical care,” Dr. Lauren Beene, executive director of the Ohio Physicians For Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “As we saw first-hand when Ohio’s abortion ban went into effect last year, withholding that care puts people’s lives and health at risk. This common sense amendment ensures that physicians will be able to provide the care our patients need and deserve free from government interference.”