Ohio’s Ballot Measure to Protect the Right to Reproductive Health Care
By: David Hackney, MD
On November 7, Ohioans will vote on a ballot measure to protect access to reproductive health care for people living in our state. This includes decisions related to contraception, fertility treatment, pregnancy care, miscarriage care, and abortion up to the point of viability, as determined by a treating physician, and after viability as necessary to protect a patient’s health. More specifically, the measure would amend Article 1 of the Ohio Constitution by adding a new section, “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.” The measure, which will be Issue 1 on the November ballot would solidify Ohioans’ right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions” without interference or discrimination from the State.
The ballot measure has been championed by Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights (OURR), a coalition of statewide reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations. The ballot committee was formed by the ACLU of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Ohio Women’s Alliance, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, Preterm-Cleveland, Pro-Choice Ohio, and URGE. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) was an early supporter of the ballot measure, drawing on previous support for a similar ballot measure that passed in Michigan in 2022.
To learn more about the ballot measure and abortion access in Ohio, watch the briefing SMFM held with American Society for Reproductive Medicine on August 29. To get involved in the campaign, sign up as a volunteer with OURR. You’ll receive emails with opportunities to participate in advocacy activities in your area. And if you don’t have the capacity to engage at this time, be sure you VOTE YES on Issue 1 to protect access to reproductive health care.
Make sure to check your registration status and polling location with plenty of time. Below are important dates to remember:
- September 22: Military and Overseas Absentee Voting Begins
- October 10: Deadline to Register to Vote (9pm)
- October 11: Absentee Voting by Mail and Early In-Person Voting Begin
- October 31: Absentee
- November 6: Absentee Voting by Mail Ends (mailed ballots must be postmarked by this date)
- November 7: General Election (absentee ballots can be personally delivered to your county board of elections by 7:30)
Dr. Hackney is a member of the SMFM Health Policy and Advocacy Committee and State Liaison Network, as well as a member of the committee representing the petitioners for the Ohio ballot measure. He practices in Cleveland, Ohio and is faculty in Reproductive Biology at Case Western Reserve University.