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Well over half of registered voters in Ohio oppose a state constitutional amendment headed to a vote in August that would make it harder to pass similar ballot measures in the future.
Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed in a USA Today/Suffolk University poll say they oppose Issue 1, while 27% say they're in favor of it and almost 17% are undecided.
The issue heads to a statewide vote on Aug. 8.
If the ballot measure were to pass, it would make it harder to put future ballot measures before voters and would also raise the threshold for passage of a constitutional amendment from a simple majority, 50%-plus-one, to 60%.
The August ballot question has become a focal point in the state's fight over abortion. Abortion-rights advocates are preparing a November vote on a constitutional amendment that would protect abortion rights in the state constitution.
Currently, abortion in Ohio is legal up until 22 weeks of pregnancy. But state Republicans have enacted a “heartbeat law” banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which was passed into law in 2019 and went into effect in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In September of last year, the heartbeat law was put on hold by a judge, pending litigation by abortion clinics in the state. The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.
The November constitutional amendment would guarantee 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.”
If August's vote on Issue 1 fails, just a majority of voters in November would have to approve the constitutional amendment on abortion for it to pass. But if Issue 1 passes in August, 60% of voters in November would have to vote in favor of enshrining abortion for the constitutional amendment to pass.