To the editor,
As the fall voting begins, Ohioans will be faced with contentious issues once again on the ballot before them: reproductive health care and marijuana. Laws regarding abortion have been passed since 2021 in various states, when the era of Roe v. Wade came to an end as the Supreme Court struck the decision down.
So, here comes Issue 1 for our Ohio ballot, which, I believe any reasonable reader would agree completely rewrites the legal landscape regarding reproductive health, and especially the landscape surrounding abortion. This amendment adds to the Ohio Constitution a fundamental right to all reproductive decisions. The list included in the amendment includes: 1. contraception; 2. fertility treatment; 3. continuing one’s own pregnancy; 4. miscarriage care; and 5. abortion.
This list is illustrative only, and in no way limits reproductive decisions to these. Interpreters and courts will be left to speculate about what all may be included, covering the spectrum from abortion throughout pregnancy to so called “gender affirming care”. This amendment likely would provide for the courts the opportunity to strike down all restrictions that would limit any procedure, at any age, if it falls under “reproductive health”.
As our Attorney General explains in his legal analysis, found at https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/SpecialPages/FINAL-ISSUE-1-ANALYSIS.aspx, the broad and undefined terms used in the amendment make it impossible to know for sure if any limits, including limits upon minors, would stand.
Most people agree that there are limited situations, at least, in which abortion is justifiable.
To quote the United Methodist Social Principles, there are “tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures by certified medical providers”.
Ohio already has statutes that care for those situations and many others, and most of them would be at risk were this amendment enacted. In my opinion, it requires too much trust in politicians, courts, and judges and I will be voting “No” on Issue 1.
Rev. Charles Case
McClure
