INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio voters backed abortion protections on Tuesday night, choosing to enshrine abortion care and other reproductive health measures into the state's constitution. It was a ballot decision that could have a near-immediate effect on how Hoosiers get access to those services, too.
Issue 1 guarantees a person’s right to an abortion and other reproductive care up until fetal viability, around 23 or 24 weeks. The amendment specifically declared an individual’s right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including birth control, fertility treatments, miscarriage and abortion.
It would also reverse Ohio's proposed abortion ban, which was the impetus for why a 10-year-old rape victim initially had to seek abortion services in Indiana after the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022.
Nearly 57% of Ohio voters chose to enshrine abortion rights despite a hard push by anti-abortion groups and Republican lawmakers, a small contingency of whom held a special election to try and raise the passage threshold of constitutional amendments to 60% in August.
Ohio voters ultimately rejected that proposal, so a simple majority sufficed for the new abortion protections to pass.
It's a move that makes Indiana's eastern neighbor the seventh - and now largest - state to ensure abortion rights into their constitution following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio said the results mark "a new beginning for Ohio, where individuals now have the right to make their own reproductive decisions without government interference."
The new amendment was likewise championed by the Indiana ACLU and Planned Parenthood of Indiana, who celebrated a new possible way for Hoosiers to access abortion services in the face of a restrictive statewide ban that largely prohibits the procedures. Indiana-based groups long opposed to abortion, like Indiana Right to Life, voiced their discontent with Issue 1 the day after the vote.
"We are saddened that abortion will now be virtually unrestricted in our neighboring state of Ohio, and Indiana will be bordered on three sides by states that support abortion on demand. But we are grateful Indiana is leading the Midwest, along with Kentucky, in protecting the lives of unborn babies and pregnant moms," Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said in a statement.
That Indiana abortion rights advocates like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have praised Ohio voters’ decision, while organizations opposed to abortion like Indiana Right to Life have criticized it, speaks to a new truth across the post-Roe landscape: Hoosiers will now have an easier time accessing abortions, even as a near-total ban remains in place statewide.
“We have been witness to patients traveling all over the region in the wake of Indiana’s abortion bans. And while our patients should never be forced to travel for basic health care like abortion, we are absolutely thrilled and relieved that they can now count on Ohio to provide their care,” said Planned Parenthood CEO Rebecca Gibron.
A new potential path for Hoosiers to access abortion procedures comes as preliminary studies released last week from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group based out of tracking the movement of people seeking abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, suggest people in states with restrictive bans are willing to travel to states without them for services.
There were no abortions in Indiana after the ban went into effect, according to the study. However, states with no abortion restrictions saw a rise in the procedure since the summer of 2022.
"Under this total ban, Indiana residents in need of abortion care are now forced to travel out of state, self-manage their abortion or remain pregnant," the study reported. The Guttmacher Institute noted three states bordering Indiana where abortion remains legal, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, all had increases in the number of abortions in August compared with July.
The institute also noted it is unclear to what extent these increases reflect seasonal fluctuations in pregnancies, more abortions obtained by residents of those states, or increased travel from Indiana or other states with an abortion ban.
In December, the Guttmacher Institute will release new data on the share of abortion patients in each state and nationally who traveled from another state to obtain care.
However, Hoosiers seeking abortion services won't be able to count on a ballot to reverse the state's near-total abortion ban.
To place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Indiana, two separately elected legislatures need to pass a proposed constitutional amendment with identical wording.
RELATED: Ohio leaders on both sides of abortion battle brace for legal challenges after Issue 1 passes
"The ACLU of Ohio, women's groups, pro-choice groups, all of these are sort of sort of going to look to what Ohio does a blueprint for what to do in their own state, as long as they don't have a procedure like Indiana does," said Jody Madeira, who is a professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
The last time that happened was when Indiana lawmakers tried to put forth a ballot referendum in early 2010 as a way to ban same-sex marriage.
By 2013, legislators had failed to pass a ban with the exact same language, so they had to take up the issue again and the effort fell flat. That the state's Republican supermajority, who rushed through an abortion ban would put forth similar efforts for a ballot measure that would possibly repeal the ban, is unlikely, legal experts told 13News.
“I don't think there's a great amount of willpower right now from lawmakers to try to even put a non-binding question on the ballot regarding abortion,” said Madeira.
Still, the push from providers to increase access for Hoosiers interested in getting an abortion in Ohio has already started, especially while Indiana's abortion ban does not prohibit the travel to other states to obtain the procedure.
"As long as the infrastructure exists in Ohio, then yes, Ohio can be a safe haven for women seeking abortion services, just like Illinois currently," Madeira said.
About a month before Indiana-based abortion providers stopped providing care in August 2022, providers in Illinois hurried to handle an increase in how many abortions they would perform. Demand for abortions at Illinois Planned Parenthood locations went from roughly 100 out-of-state patients a month to 750 in the first week after the Supreme Court's ruling.
"We've been referring to it as a 'tidal wave.' And you know, anyone who has been paying attention, knew this wasn't a surprise," said Julie Uhal, SAFE abortion expansion program manager for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, in 2022. "So we’ve been preparing for the overturn of Roe for years now and have taken a lot of steps to increase capacity at our health centers both through brick and mortar sites and increasing staff capacity."
Dr. Katie McHugh is an OB/GYN with experience providing reproductive care, part of which has included abortion services, throughout parts of Indiana and Ohio, and said providers are already in conversation about how to similarly increase services along the Indiana-Ohio border.
"There are many conversations about that happening around the country. Both from a state program and funding perspective, as well as other funds like abortion funds or abortion support funds. Many organizations and groups have been working on this problem of trying to help people who need care to leave the state," McHugh said.
And Ohio's decision could have an impact on how aspiring OB/GYNs have access to training in Indiana, at the university or professional level.
"What we are seeing also is that there are grants and programs popping up to also allow trainees to leave the state where options are restricted so that they can have this training that is potentially providing life saving care for patients," McHugh said.
Ohio's abortion amendment will take effect 30 days after the election.
Ohio is the latest state to put the question of abortion rights directly to voters, according to the Associated Press. It’s also the latest state where voters decided either in favor of protecting access to abortion or against placing further restrictions on the procedure.
In 2022, voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved state constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights, while voters in Kansas and Kentucky rejected measures to amend their state constitutions to restrict the procedure. Montana voters also rejected a proposal that year backed by opponents of abortion rights.