It has been seventeen months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and legalized abortion bans.
Seventeen months since the far-right won and women all over America lost their reproductive freedoms. Women are now forced to travel hundreds of miles for essential reproductive health care, or they risk receiving unsafe, unregulated care. Yet, on Nov. 7, 2023, Ohio voters gave us hope that the fight for safe and legal abortion access was nowhere near over.
Ohio passed Issue 1, a constitutional amendment declaring an individual’s right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including birth control, fertility treatments, miscarriage, and abortion. The law does specify that abortion will remain prohibited after a doctor decides that a fetus will most likely survive birth, with an exception to protect the life of the mother. Issue 1 counteracts Ohio’s “heartbeat bill”, a 2019 state law passed by Republicans that bans most abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, with no expectations for rape or incest.
With the passage of Issue 1, Ohio joined six other states in protecting abortion rights: Kansas, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont. Kansas and Kentucky are two traditionally Republican states. In Kansas, Republicans have carried the state in 19 of the last 20 presidential elections since 1940.
Kentucky is no different, having mostly voted for Republican presidential nominees since 1950. The latest passage of abortion rights bills, however, has proven that Democrats can win elections centered on the issue of reproductive freedom. In fact, public polling shows that ⅔ of Americans believe abortion should be legal in the early stages of pregnancy.
These recent statewide victories suggest a turning point in American politics and are indicative of how the 2024 election will play out. The country broadly favors abortion protections, a fact that Democrats used to retain control of the U.S. Senate, take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and win several governorships. Clearly, abortion access will be a crucial topic in the presidential election, and possibly the deciding factor between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
The fact that abortion access continues to drive turnout in elections throughout the nation is a sign of hope for all those losing faith in politics. It can be easy to have a jaded perspective about our current government. Maybe you feel that our current president doesn’t represent your background or beliefs. Maybe you feel that our government’s policies don’t reflect your values. But, this recent decision in Ohio, if anything, is a sign that our voices are still being heard.
