Issue 1 Fails in Ohio Special Election, Raising Stakes for State Abortion Battle

In the Ohio special election on Tuesday night, Issue 1 — a measure that would have raised the threshold to pass amendments to the state constitution from 50 percent plus one to 60 percent — failed, with media outlets calling the election less than two hours after polls closed.

The Washington Post called the election around 9 p.m. with 39 percent of the vote counted. At that point, 60.5 percent of Ohioans voted “no” on Issue 1, and 39.5 percent voted “yes.” If the ballot measure had passed, it would have also required citizens who want to place an amendment on the ballot to collect signatures from at least five percent of voters from the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties of Ohio instead of the current 44. It would have additionally eliminated the ten-day cure signature period.

Issue 1 would have likely made it more difficult for a radical abortion amendment proposed by left-wing groups to pass in the state’s November election. With Issue 1’s failure, the pro-life and pro-abortion movements will go head-to-head in the months leading up to the election, the former working to protect the unborn and the latter working to enshrine abortion on demand into the Ohio constitution.

“It is a sad day for Ohio and a warning for pro-life states across the nation. Millions of dollars and liberal dark money flooded Ohio to ensure they have a path to buy their extreme policies in a pro-life state. Tragically, some sat on the sideline while outsider liberal groups poured millions into Ohio,” leading pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said in a statement following the defeat of Issue 1.

“A broad coalition of passionate pro-life Ohioans came together to fight parental rights opponents and try to take victory from the jaws of defeat. But the silence of the establishment and business community in Ohio left a vacuum too large to overcome. During this crucial election, progressives funneled in millions from outside groups to mislead the people of Ohio,” the group continued.

SBA Pro-Life America added that “attacks on state constitutions are now the national playbook of the extreme pro-abortion Left.”

“That is why everyone must take this threat seriously and recognize progressives will win if their opponents are scared into submission by the pro-abortion Left. So long as the Republicans and their supporters take the ostrich strategy and bury their heads in the sand, they will lose again and again,” the group concluded.

The pro-abortion groups spearheading the abortion initiative rabidly opposed Issue 1, viewing it as a major roadblock for their abortion-on-demand agenda. Many of those groups issued statements of celebration following the election results.

“Buckeye voters today sent a powerful message by rejecting a brazen effort by extremists in the state legislature to undermine citizen-initiated amendments,” tweeted Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the coalition pushing the abortion ballot initiative.

“Great news! Ohioans showed up to the polls and rejected the opposition’s attempts to undermine democracy and restrict reproductive freedom,” President and CEO of abortion giant Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson said. “Abortion is on the ballot this November. Mark your calendars now, Ohio!”

The language of the abortion ballot initiative is extremely broad and makes no differentiation between minors and adults, instead opting to use the term “individual.”

The abortion ballot measure states that “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.”

Under the amendment, the state would also not be allowed to:

…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 individuals health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.

Critics of the ballot measure have urgently warned that the amendment would decimate parental rights, lead to abortion on demand, and even allow minors to pursue sex-change procedures. Coalition members have notably long campaigned to end parental involvement laws.

The ACLU of Ohio is responsible for crafting the broad language of the proposed abortion amendment, along with other groups such as Planned Parenthood. Left-wing fact-checkers have quickly asserted that the amendment would not impact parental rights. But when local media questioned the ACLU of Ohio about whether the language of the measure would undo parental consent and notification laws, the organization vaguely indicated that those laws would not stand if the amendment passes.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Twitter @thekat_hamilton.