Ohio enshrines abortion rights in its Constitution, a resounding victory for pro-life advocates.

A year before the presidential election, this decision is extremely important. In the US, voters in Ohio on Tuesday approved adding abortion rights to the conservative state’s Constitution. It’s a resounding victory for pro-life advocates and Democrats for President Joe Biden, his re-election candidate.

The New York Times projected that the pro-abortion constitutional amendment received 56% of the vote. The news sparked an explosion of joy at a pro-life coalition rally in Columbus, the capital of the Republican-controlled Midwestern state. By contrast, the anti-abortion coalition Protect Women Ohio said on behalf of its members that it was “heartbroken” by the results.

Ohio joins states, both progressive and conservative, that have consistently voted pro-abortion in abortion elections, much to the surprise of Republicans, after the Supreme Court struck down a ruling last summer that would have guaranteed abortions to the federal government. American women’s right to terminate a pregnancy. Since then, the issue of abortion rights has returned to the States. Many have limited or banned it, others have strengthened it. This topic strongly mobilizes Americans; some of them, who do not consider themselves progressive, even consider the bans passed by several states to be too radical.

A brutal campaign

Following the Supreme Court decision, Ohio passed a law banning most abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, as soon as a heartbeat can be detected. That is about six weeks, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant. This law is currently stalled due to a legal battle. Ohio currently allows abortions up to about 22 weeks of pregnancy.

A right-wing attempt to make it more difficult to organize referendums by jeopardizing abortion failed in August. Abortion advocates managed to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures to introduce a constitutional amendment to the public that would enshrine the right to abortion. Both camps then launched a fierce campaign with millions of dollars and ubiquitous television spots, sending thousands of volunteers to knock on residents’ doors.

The amendment passed on Tuesday stipulates that each person has “the right to make and implement his or her own decisions,” particularly in matters of abortion, contraception and treatment related to fertility or miscarriages.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who fiercely opposed the measure, argued that it would open up the possibility of abortions “at any time” during pregnancy, as well as the possibility of minors having them without their parents’ consent. Which the opposing camp categorically denied.

“The Trumpists lost”

This election was closely watched across the country as it provides a gauge of trends among voters a year before the presidential election. President Biden, in a poor position in the polls, was right to rush to hail the results and use the opportunity to call for donations. “Across the country tonight, democracy won and the Trumpists lost. Voters choose. There are no polls. Now everyone is together to win next year,” he wrote on X.

In a sign of the gravity of the issue, which will weigh heavily in the 2024 campaign, in Kentucky, a neighboring conservative state, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear also won re-election on Tuesday after making abortion rights a warhorse.