Anti-abortion advocates in Ohio filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Frank LaRose among others on Friday in an attempt to invalidate the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to enshrine abortion rights.
Filed three days after LaRose certified that the supporters of the amendment had garnered enough signatures to earn a spot in the November election, the lawsuit claims that the broad language of the amendment does not sufficiently articulate what existing state laws would need to be repealed upon its passage.
TIM SCOTT’S MESSAGING AND STRATEGIES COULD SHIFT DESANTIS OUT OF SECOND PLACE
Cincinnati attorney Curt Hartman filed the lawsuit on behalf of former GOP legislative candidate Jennifer Giroux and former state GOP Rep. Tom Brinkman. In the document, Hartman says that the amendment would eradicate the state’s “heartbeat bill” that prohibits abortion after cardiac activity has been detected, along with the prohibition of abortion due to Down syndrome, parental consent protections, and safety regulations for abortion clinics.
Ohio law explicitly requires that constitutional amendments proposed by ballot initiative must “include the text of any existing statute or constitutional provision that would be amended or repealed if the proposed law or constitutional amendment is adopted.”
Janet Morana, executive director of Priests for Life, told the Washington Examiner before the lawsuit that Ohio has been an anti-abortion state since before Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, effectively giving authority over abortion to the states. Now, anti-abortion advocates see the amendment process as a way to overturn legislative restrictions on the controversial procedure.
“This ballot initiative in Ohio will wipe away every abortion law that protects babies and women in Ohio,” Janet Morana of Priests for Life told Washington Examiner. “It goes away automatically.”
The amendment, originally written by the American Civil Liberties Union, prevents state actions that “directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against” individual exercise or assistance in obtaining an unlimited list of reproductive health decisions, including abortion, contraception, and “continuing one’s own pregnancy.”
Although the state legislature can restrict abortion after fetal viability, typically considered to be 22 weeks’ gestation, the amendment stipulates a patient’s physician is the ultimate arbitrator of whether continuing a pregnancy, irrespective of the gestational age, will negatively affect the health of the mother.
Anti-abortion advocates have stressed in their campaign efforts that the amendment will eliminate parental consent statutes.
“You’re a parent, and your daughter is 13 in high school … and suddenly she’s pregnant,” Morana explained in a thought experiment. “[A school representative] can’t give you a daughter in school so much as a Tylenol without your permission, but, under this new law, they will be able to take her off for an abortion without you knowing.”
The ACLU says on its website that although the majority of teenagers who choose to obtain an abortion do tell at least one parent, 22% of those who did not inform a did so because they were afraid their parents would kick them out of the home, and 8% feared they would be physically abused by a parent for their decisions.
Radical out-of-state activists are pouring money into Ohio looking to buy our constitution. It’s important we come together and do whatever we can to win this campaign.
That’s why I’m calling on Matt Dolan and Bernie Moreno to step up and help secure a critical YES on 1 victory… https://t.co/LzR3N89h2D
— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) July 31, 2023
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Although LaRose validated the signatures to add the amendment to the November ballot, he has been a staunch opponent of the provision through his campaign for U.S. senator.
On the campaign trail, LaRose has advocated Ohioans to participate in the Aug. 8 special election by voting to increase the required vote allotment to a 60% majority to pass a constitutional amendment by ballot.
