The Ohio Supreme Court will inevitably rule on abortion access after the passage of a reproductive rights amendment last year — meaning the justices elected this year will support define what abortion care will look like in Ohio.
Despite 57% Ohio voters approve 2023 amendment enshrining reproductive rights in the state constitution did not reverse Ohio’s numerous anti-abortion laws.
“If you went out and voted for the Reproductive Freedom Amendment last year, you need to go back and vote for Supreme Court justices who will enforce that amendment, not ignore it.” said Abortion Forward Deputy Director Jaime Miracle. “For the Reproductive Freedom Amendment to become a reality in our state, we need judges to enforce it.”
Republicans currently hold a 4-3 majority on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Incumbent Democratic Judge Michael P. Donnelly is running against Republican Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan.
Incumbent Democratic Judge Melody Stewart faces incumbent Republican Judge Joseph Deters, who decided not to seek his current seat and instead faced Stewart.
Democratic candidate Lisa Forbes for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and Republican candidate Dan Hawkins for the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas are vying for the open seat in Deters County.
Ohio Right to Life has endorsed Republican candidates Shanahan, Deters and Hawkins.
“Ohioans want a strong and decisive judiciary, and with three of the seven seats up for election, it is crucial that pro-life voters support these conservative candidates.” Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said in a statement:We must get these three judges elected to protect life in our state. … “Elections have consequences, and we are extremely mindful of their importance to the continued growth of the pro-life movement in Ohio.”
Abortion Forward endorsed Democratic candidates Stewart, Donnelly and Forbes.
“Reproductive freedom and abortion rights are on the ballot in Ohio in 2024, but this time in the form of judicial candidates,” Kellie Copeland, executive director of Abortion Forward, said in a statement. “Ohio’s reproductive freedom amendment established a clear framework to protect everyone’s right to access abortion, but it’s up to our judicial system to make sure this amendment doesn’t simply become a meaningless piece of paper. We need judges who will enforce it, not ignore it.”
The seven justices of the Ohio Supreme Court will have the final word.
“They will be the ones to decide whether the Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment is implemented or ignored,” Miracle said.
Ohio has passed more than 30 different restrictions on abortion and reproductive health care since former Ohio Gov. John Kasich took office in 2011, she said.
There are two ways to invalidate these laws: they can be repealed by the legislature or they can be declared unconstitutional by amendment.
“Under our current legislation, that will never happen,” Miracle said. “So the courts are currently the only tool that can remove these harmful and dangerous restrictions on abortion.”
Recent a momentary injunction was issued that temporarily suspended the 24-hour waiting period in Ohio — meaning a woman seeking an abortion in Ohio will no longer have to make two trips to an abortion clinic before the procedure.
“This was really the first concrete example of what access to abortion under the Reproductive Freedom Amendment could look like and why it’s so important that judges who enforce the amendment don’t ignore it,” Miracle said. “It’s the difference between having a right and having that right in place. And that’s what the court can decide.”
This ruling also applies to persons in neighboring states with almost complete bans like Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Hours after the Dobbs decision and the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Ohio’s sixth-week abortion law went into effect.
“The Ohio Supreme Court could have acted when asked to do so, but it didn’t,” Miracle said. “And the Republican incumbents who ran for office are still there, so that’s what the court can look like when it’s hostile to abortion rights.”
An Ohio law banning abortions at six weeks of pregnancy is before a Hamilton County court. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the abortion law without exceptions for rape or incest in 2019.
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