Government

Ohio Enshrined Abortion Access Into Its Constitution

Take that, SCOTUS.

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Alito Leaked Report Indicates Supreme Court Set To Overturn Roe v. Wade

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

When the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court handed down Dobbs, they disrupted 50 years of bodily autonomy. Old laws came back into effect and new ones were created that actively made it difficult for doctors to address their patients’ health needs without risking their licenses or jail time. Thankfully, people have been hard at work to clean up the mess that the Court made. Despite the clear impediments to access, abortions have actually gone up in most states since the Dobbs decision. It has fallen on states to protect bodily autonomy and Ohio just voted to enshrine it in their state constitution. From AP News:

Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that ensures access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, the latest victory for abortion rights supporters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

Ohio became the seventh state where voters decided to protect abortion access after the landmark ruling and was the only state to consider a statewide abortion rights question this year.

“The future is bright, and tonight we can celebrate this win for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights,” Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, which led support for the amendment, told a jubilant crowd of supporters.

This victory is monumental and hard won:

With Dobbs, the Supreme Court claimed to return the issue of abortion back to the states. They are responding. Loudly. The quicker that states adopt reproductive right protections, the sooner people will stop dying over easily treatable health conditions. Pregnancy coupled with cancer is complicated enough without having to worry if you or your doctor risks jail because of chemo.

Ohio Voters Enshrine Abortion Access In Constitution In Latest Statewide Win For Reproductive Rights [AP News]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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