Ohio approves making abortion a constitutional right

Ohio voters decided to declare abortion as constitutional right referendum, according to the election projections of the main American media.

The result of the election in the Midwest state, where voters approved the inclusion in the state constitution of the “individual right to their own reproductive medical treatment”, represents a victory for the movement in favor of abortion in the USA

Ohio voters’ decision this Tuesday makes the state the seventh to vote no restrictions on access to abortionsince the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling in Roe vs. Wade, which protected voluntary termination at the federal level pregnancy in June 2022.

The approved measure also protects any person or entity that assists a patient in obtaining reproductive medical treatment and stipulates that the state cannot “to directly or indirectly burden, punish or prohibit abortion.”

The approved amendment to the state constitution, however, does not close the door on the state legislature being able to ban abortions after 23 or 24 weeks, except when the mother’s life is in danger.

Ohio’s referendum this Tuesday has been in the national spotlight ahead of the 2024 presidential election as it serves to measure the importance and ability of the abortion issue to mobilize voters in key states.

“Hinge” territory.
And especially this state, which is considered a “hinged” territory, where neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are sure of victory presidential ones. Although in the last two presidential elections, Ohio elected the Republican candidate (in this case, Donald Trump), in the 2012 elections, former President Barack Obama won the state.

Since the Supreme Court overturned the historic ruling in Roe vs. Wade, which protected women’s right to abortion at the federal level, was implemented by almost half of the states in the country regulations that limit or completely prohibit abortion.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, twenty-one states ban abortion after 18 weeks of pregnancy, with some restricting it even earlier, a situation that has led to thousands of women having to travel to other states to get an abortion, particularly affecting women with low birth weight. stage of pregnancy. income, immigrants and African Americans.