Strong backing for a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights stands as a test case, especially since it is in a Republican-leaning state and likely the only abortion measure on a ballot in November's off-year election, USA Today reported on Monday.
A new USA Today Network/Suffolk University survey of the state's residents showed the amendment guaranteeing access to reproductive services winning 58%-32%.
The issue is being watched by activists across the country who are weighing state-based initiatives in the next election cycle to codify or restore abortion rights.
"For sure, I think folks are really paying attention," Heather Shumaker, director of state abortion access for the National Women's Law Center, which backs the amendment, told USA Today.
That's particularly true in states where Republican-controlled state governments have placed strict limits on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade a year ago, Shumaker added. "We know that ballot measures have emerged as one of the most promising strategies to preserve abortion access."
Anti-abortion activists are also watching Ohio to learn how to combat the initiatives.
"I certainly anticipate other states to be looking at us and the model we used," said Amy Natoce of Protect Women Ohio, a coalition opposing the proposal. They describe the measure as "anti-parent," contending that it undermines the authority of parents to make decisions about abortion and gender assignment issues for their children.
"The general public in Ohio still likes their local Republican lawmakers, but when it comes to extreme positions against abortion rights, they are reeling them in," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. "Even Republican voters have daughters, nieces, and granddaughters who may be facing decisions right now on abortion, contraception, or fertility treatment. So for some of these voters, it's not politics, it's personal."
The proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution states 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." Abortion could be banned after viability, when a fetus could survive outside the womb.
The following statistics were included in the poll's results:
* The measure was endorsed by Democrats, 81%-14% and independents backed it 68%-22%. Support among independent women was 85%-12%, a bit higher than even among Democrat women, 81%-14%.
* Among Republicans, 32% supported the amendment, while 57% opposed it.
* Women supported the measure 64%-28%, while men backed it 50%-37%.
* White respondents backed it 57%-34%, while minority respondents supported it 66%-24%.
* Those with no more than a high school diploma backed it 52%-39%, while those with post-graduate degrees supported it 65%-26%.
The poll of 500 likely voters in Ohio was conducted from July 9-12, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points for the full sample.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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