Voters on Tuesday enshrined a legal right to abortion in Ohio and rejected Republican candidates in Virginia to thwart the State Governor’s plan to ban abortion at 15 weeks.
The conservative-leaning state of Ohio approved a ballot referendum that adds a new right to “reproductive freedom,” [1] including abortion and contraception, to the state constitution.
Over 56% of nearly 4 million Ohioans selected “yes” for the adoption of Issue 1, in contrast to only 44% who chose “no.”
The amendment guarantees that “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decision,” including, but not limited to “abortion.”
Many opponents of the amendment fear that it will open the door to late-term abortion and eviscerate parental consent and notification laws for minors seeking abortions.
Meanwhile in the liberal-leaning state of Virginia [2], Democrats kept control of the state Senate and flipped the state House of Delegates on Tuesday in what is a major blow to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to pass legislation that would ban abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy.
An effort by Youngkin and legislative Republicans to pass a ban was a key focus of the rhetoric from both Republican and Democratic candidates. Democrats sought to paint Republicans as a threat to abortion access and Republicans labelled Democrats as extreme on the issue.