Deidra Reese, statewide program manager for the Ohio Unity Coalition, celebrates the defeat of Issue 1 during a watch party in Columbus on Aug. 8, 2023.Photo:Jay LaPrete/AP photo
Jay LaPrete/AP photo
In what’s being lauded as a victory for abortion rights, Ohio voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly defeated a Republican-backedballot measure that aimed to make it more difficult to change the state constitution.
The measure, known asIssue One, would have raised thethresholdof support required for future state constitutional amendments from a simple majority of over 50% to a full 60%.
People celebrate the defeat of Issue 1 during a Columbus watch party on Aug. 8, 2023.Jay LaPrete/AP Photo
Jay LaPrete/AP Photo
Critics of Issue One argued that Republicans were in favor of the measure as a means of ensuring the defeat of a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights, which will be on the state’s November’s ballot.
An attendee uses a sign to shield the sun during an August rosary rally aimed at promoting Ohio’s Issue One.Darron Cummings/AP Photo
Darron Cummings/AP Photo
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Even some Republican donors have worried that state politicians' stances on abortion are too extreme. In recent weeks, wealthy donors havesecond-guessed their supportof Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign orput a pause on funding altogether, some citing the Republican’s stance on abortion. (The governor signed into lawa six-week abortion banin April.)
Nelson Peltz, a billionaire businessman and the father of actressNicola Peltz Beckham, is among the donors having second thoughts, with a source tellingFinancial TimesPeltz “thinks that most of DeSantis’s policies are acceptable, but his position on abortion is way too severe.”
source: people.com
