Fall abortion rights proposal is target of misinformation

The constitutional amendment seeking to guarantee access to abortion rights in Ohio has been fueling misleading claims about how it could influence abortion care, genderrelated health care and parental consent in the state.

Many of these talking points also are included in a state Senate resolution proposed on Wednesday, which was the first day of early in-person voting ahead of Election Day on Nov. 7.

The proposed amendment would give Ohioans the right to make their own reproductive decisions. Supporters say that since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, the proposal would restore a commonsense abortion protection that most Ohio voters can support.

AP VoteCast polling last year found that 59% of Ohio voters say abortion should generally be legal.

But opponents argue the amendment, referred to as Issue 1 on the ballot, would do far more than that. Ads portray it as a gateway to children getting abortions and gender-related surgeries without their parents' consent.

Opponents also have falsely suggested the amendment would open doors to protecting abusers and legalizing infanticide.

The Associated Press spoke to numerous medical and legal experts, who explained what the amendment would mean for Ohioans if it were to pass in November.

If the amendment passes, Ohio can still restrict abortion beyond the point when a fetus can survive outside the womb. With modern medicine, that point, referred to as the point of viability, is typically about 23 weeks or 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

Yet opponents of the measure argue that the proposal would still allow for abortions “up to birth” because it lets doctors decide when a fetus is viable or not and because it has an exemption allowing later abortions to protect the life or the health of the mother.

“They could have made it clear. They could have added weeks in there for viability,” said Mehek Cooke, a lawyer working with the opposition campaign, Protect Women Ohio.