{"id":297228,"date":"2023-08-28T20:34:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T01:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=297228"},"modified":"2023-09-19T17:47:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T22:47:42","slug":"ohio-abortion-ballot-language-angers-advocates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/ohio-abortion-ballot-language-angers-advocates\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio abortion amendment ballot language angers advocates, triggers lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Ohio Ballot Board approved language last Thursday that will be shown to voters during the state’s upcoming election on an amendment that would enshrine the “right” to abortion in the state’s constitution \u2014 and supporters of the amendment aren’t happy.<\/p>\n

Abortion supporters say<\/a> the ballot language is an “abomination,” as it contains a number of revisions and differs from the text shown to voters who petitioned to place the amendment on the November ballot. Among the most notable changes is the word “fetus” replaced with “unborn child.”<\/p>\n

Other changes rewrite sections to more accurately convey what the voters will be deciding. For example, while the original version says “… in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health,” the new version explains the amendment would, “Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability, if, in the treating physician’s determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.”<\/p>\n

Supporters of the amendment, Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, have reportedly filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the ballot board \u2014 a fight that would go to the Ohio Supreme Court. In an email, the Ohio-based pro-life group Created Equal stated “the Ohio Supreme Court should reject this request and allow the board’s accurate summary of the language to remain.”<\/p>\n

A comparison of the two versions can be seen in a tweet<\/a> from reporter Morgan Trau below.<\/p>\n

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HAPPENING NOW: Ohio Ballot Board is hearing two versions of the abortion rights amendment that will be on ballot this Nov.<\/p>\n

The first is the one voters signed onto, the second is done by the Ballot Board GOP.<\/p>\n

GOP added language about \u201cunborn child.\u201d @WEWS<\/a> @OhioCapJournal<\/a> @WCPO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HWq88DcBN7<\/a><\/p>\n

— Morgan Trau (@MorganTrau) August 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n