Ohio Issue 1: Abortion amendment dominates Tuesday's election

Jessie Balmert and Kayla Bennett, Cincinnati Enquirer
Two oversized signs addressing Issue One are on display along Fifth Street in Marysville, Ohio.
Two oversized signs addressing Issue One are on display along Fifth Street in Marysville, Ohio.

On Tuesday, Ohio voters will decide whether abortion rights are added to the state constitution.

Issue 1 would enshrine access to abortion and other reproductive decisions in the Ohio Constitution. Proponents say it's needed to fend off Republican abortion restrictions, including a ban on most abortions that was in effect for several weeks last year.

More: Election Day is Tuesday: What you need to know about Ohio Issues 1 and 2

Opponents say the measure is too permissive for a state like Ohio, which twice voted for former President Donald Trump by 8 percentage points.

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Absentee ballots that were not postmarked by Monday can be dropped off at your county board of elections.

Ohio Issue 1 live results

We will have live updates here starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

For: 0

Against: 0

Precincts reporting: 0

More live results

What is the language of Ohio Issue 1?

A. Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on:

  1. contraception;

  2. fertility treatment;

  3. continuing one’s own pregnancy;

  4. miscarriage care;

  5. and abortion.

B. The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either:

  1. An individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or

  2. A person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.

  3. However, abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.

C. As used in this Section:

  1. “Fetal viability” means “the point in a pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures. This is determined on a case-by-case basis.”

  2. “State” includes any governmental entity and any political subdivision.

D. This Section is self-executing.

Dig deeper on Ohio Issue 1

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Issue 1 2023: Live results as state votes on abortion access

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