Last month, the bipartisan Ohio Ballot Board voted unanimously to move “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” constitutional amendment forward. With this vote, organizers with Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Protect Choice Ohio, the forces behind the amendment, began collecting the more than 400,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the November 2023 ballot.
Almost immediately, the opposition, ironically dubbed “Protect Women Ohio,” flooded $5 million dollars into a dishonest, transphobic media campaign against the proposed reproductive freedom amendment. The smear campaign, dripping in desperation, attempts to spread lies about the true nature of the amendment by invoking inflammatory anti-trans and anti-parent language.
Let’s be clear: This ad is an outright lie and shows just how dirty these extremists will play to try to manipulate the people of Ohio. The majority of Ohioans support our grassroots initiative to get government out of our personal health care decisions and create common-sense guarantees for Ohioans' freedom about their own reproductive health. The issues raised in their vile ad are pure nonsense, but extremist groups are desperate to keep the people from having a voice on this popular initiative.
Ohioans aren’t fooled by all the noise. So, the opposition took things a step further. Angered by the Ohio Ballot Board upholding its constitutional duty and determining the amendment is single-subject, Ohio Right to Life extremists took the highly unorthodox step of suing the Ohio Ballot Board in the Supreme Court of Ohio to force a reversal of its decision.
As noted by ACLU of Ohio legal director, Freda Levenson, “This lawsuit has no merit. The Ohio Ballot Board determined – unanimously - that our amendment deals with one single-subject. It was an easy and obvious call to make, even for an ideologically diverse board. Our proposal is strong and Ohioans support it. Anti-abortion groups and politicians are desperate to stop this popular initiative by any means, and we will not let that happen.”
Ohioans support reproductive freedom. The opposition is desperate because they know the public is on our side. Regardless of the attacks thrown our way, we’ll never stop fighting for the ability of all Ohioans to make decisions about their reproductive health. Join us – Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom.
