Women’s health in peril; abortion rights can’t wait

Shortly after the Dobbs decision last June, a small group of Ohio physicians drafted a letter of public dissent to express their outrage at the high court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade and how that decision was interfering with their medical practice and putting their patients’ lives at risk.

Somewhat unexpectedly, those first small expressions of dissent led to an outpouring from the broader physician community, and several days and 1,400 doctors later, the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights was born.

This group exists for one reason and one reason alone: to do whatever is necessary to enshrine basic reproductive rights into the Ohio constitution in order to protect the freedom and well-being of all Ohioans.

They are physicians by training, not politicians or political advocates – but as frontline health care professionals, the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights doctors have seen firsthand the confusion and unintended consequences left in the wake of the Dobbs decision.

For them, basic reproductive rights (ie, fertility treatment, contraception choice, miscarriage management, pregnancy termination, and abortion) are fundamental to ensuring the health and safety of their patients, and therefore codifying those rights in our state’s constitution cannot wait.

Simply put, they see the urgent need for action because they know the terrible price of inaction for pregnant and child-bearing Ohioans of all ages.

Their willingness as professionals and citizens to take a stand and lead the charge for change is what attracted us to the cause. To date, the doctors at Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights have expanded their coalition through outreach to a diverse set of stakeholders.

They’ve attracted a bipartisan team of experienced Ohio campaign professionals, secured the best legal advice, drafted and reviewed multiple rounds of proposed constitutional language, retained a leading public opinion firm, and have begun the work of building a team of volunteers and paid field staff.

All of this in service of doing everything possible to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot for Ohioans to support in November 2023.

Throughout this process, the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights team has shared its work transparently with a wide group of other organizations in hopes of encouraging them to work toward an amendment in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, those other traditional reproductive rights groups in Ohio, many of whom we have supported generously over the years, are setting their sights on 2024.

We are no newcomers to Ohio politics – both what happens in plain sight, or what happens behind the scenes. But playing games with women’s health and delaying the effort to secure their reproductive rights is just plain wrong, and it happens to be bad politics as well.

Why act now?

Pushing off placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Ohio until 2024 would have several negative impacts:

● Most importantly, it delays reproductive freedom for Ohio citizens and health care clarity for Ohio physicians;

● It forces an amendment campaign to compete for talent and donors with both U.S. Senate and presidential campaigns in 2024;

● It forces an Ohio campaign to compete with other states for national attention vs an open field during the off-year of 2023;

● It costs more money for media as rates will increase dramatically in 2024 with all the races in a presidential year;

● And it may even require more votes – a 60% majority vs a simple 50% plus one majority as Ohio Republicans push to make it harder to pass an amendment to the constitution.

Simply put, there is no factual evidence that waiting until 2024 improves our odds of success; in fact, just the opposite. And there is no good reason Ohioans should wait for two years to claim the rights our neighbors to the north in Michigan secured last year.

That’s why we are working hard to help the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights doctors build a diverse, non-partisan, business-supported, citizen-led campaign to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2023, and in so doing, give Ohioans the right to vote at the earliest possible time to secure their reproductive freedom once and for all.

This work can’t be left to politicians, or even just professional political advocates - though they’re welcome to help. This must be the work of citizens, amending our constitution to protect our fundamental rights, and that’s why we’re proud to support OPRR as they lead the effort to do just that in 2023.

Christopher Celeste is a marketer and entrepreneur who has helped build businesses in advertising, technology and real estate. He is a longtime political activist and senior advisor for both state and national initiatives.

Nancy Kramer is a Columbus native and business leader who sold her technology marketing firm to IBM, where she serves as a chief evangelist. She serves on several private, public and civic boards, including The Columbus Partnership. Kramer and Celeste are married.