So far, a simple majority (50 percent) is needed in Ohio to change the constitution, but Republicans wanted to increase that to at least 60 percent of the vote. That would raise doubts about whether abortion rights advocates will get enough votes later this year to enshrine it in the Ohio Constitution. A referendum on this issue will be held in November.
The Republican bill was defeated on Tuesday with 56 percent of the vote. Only 43% of voters voted in favor of the controversial law. A particularly high voter turnout was a bad sign for Republicans, who have a strict abortion law in place that bans termination of pregnancy after six weeks.
As a result, a 10-year-old girl who had been raped had to flee to a neighboring country to have an abortion. Subsequently, the judge suspended the law pending further judicial action.
Roe v. Wade
The anti-abortion movement scored a resounding victory last year when the US Supreme Court ruled last year Roe v. Wade Overturning the ruling that established the national right to abortion. The ruling essentially meant that states had to decide for themselves whether or not to allow or possible restrictions on abortion.
Republicans were pleased with the court’s ruling, but the case has since turned against them. The ruling rallied voters across America in support of the right to abortion. According to recent polls, the vast majority of Americans oppose banning abortion.
A series of “red” states, where Republicans hold power, immediately began introducing strict laws, sometimes amounting to near-total bans, but last year six states passed provisions guaranteeing the right to abortion. It is particularly remarkable that even in very conservative states like Kansas and Kentucky, a majority of voters voted in favor of preserving abortion rights.
Abortion right advocates also want to force a popular vote on abortion in several other states, including Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
Warning to Republicans
The Ohio result is a warning to Republicans that their anti-abortion campaign is in jeopardy. Many Republican politicians would like to see Congress enact a nationwide ban on abortion. But this is not possible, as long as Senate Democrats have a majority thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’ position as Senate President.
Remarkably, former President Trump, who has a good eye for the changing political climate, barely mentioned abortion in his campaign for the White House. In the 2016 election, he branded himself an anti-abortion candidate to gain the support of evangelical Christians. Before entering politics, the real estate mogul was still an advocate for the right to abortion.
Until recently, Trump bragged that he was Roe v. Wade By appointing three new conservative justices to the Supreme Court. But now that the wind was coming from a different direction, he was even more cautious.
He doesn’t want to get his hands burned on proposals to get a national abortion ban through Congress. According to him, the disappointing results for Republicans in last year’s congressional elections were a bad omen: the abortion issue threatens to become a poison pill for Republicans in the 2024 elections.
