Ohio faces critical votes that could decide abortion access in the state

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• Amna Nawaz:

  It's been a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion access.

  Since then, six states have voted on abortion-related ballot measures, and, in each case, voters have supported abortion rights.

  Laura Barron-Lopez reports on a new effort under way in Ohio.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  A coalition of doctors is facing a Wednesday deadline to collect more than 400,000 signatures to put reproductive rights on the ballot in Ohio this November.

  The proposed amendment would give every person the right to make their own decisions on abortion, contraception, miscarriage care, and fertility treatments. While abortion could be prohibited after fetal viability, it would remain legal in cases to protect the life of the pregnant patient. And it would prevent the state from punishing patients or anyone that assists them.

  Dr. Lauren Beene is the co-founder of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights. And she joins me now.

  Dr. Beene, thanks so much for being here.

  You need 413,000 signatures to get this measure on the ballot. Do you have that amount to get it in November?

  Dr. Lauren Beene, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights: Yes, we do.

  Thanks to the overwhelming energy and momentum of our volunteers signature collectors that have been working for weeks now, we will have enough to submit to the secretary of state.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  And what are you hearing from people as you have been gathering these signatures?

• Dr. Lauren Beene:

  I have been hearing just incredible tones of support.

  People feel very strongly that health care decisions, including reproductive health care decisions, should be kept between a person and their doctor, a woman in their doctor, and feel strongly that it's not the place of the government and politicians to make those decisions for them.

  And so, when we're out there collecting signatures, I'm — everything that I encountered was just a lot of excitement and people saying: This is great. How can I help?

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  In an August special election, voters will decide whether or not to raise the threshold of support needed for ballot measures to 60 percent versus just a majority, which is what is needed now.

  That election could ultimately determine the success of this abortion access measure. How are you preparing people for that August vote?

• Dr. Lauren Beene:

  You know, that is a big topic of conversation among everybody who is interested in reproductive freedom in Ohio right now.

  And our volunteers were bringing that up with people as they were asking them if they'd like to sign the petition in support of reproductive freedom. They would also say: And don't forget to make sure you're registered to vote, and that you vote no in August or even in July, voting no early, on Issue 1, because that would make it harder.

  It would certainly make it harder, not only for our issue that we're focusing on reproductive freedom, but for any issue that the people of Ohio want to bring forth. And so that affects — that affects all of us universally.

  And we are hopeful that it will not pass, that the August special election will not be successful. But even if it were, we would still power forward, because we know that this is what the people want. The people want reproductive freedom in Ohio.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  Are you pressing national leaders at all, be it leaders in Congress or President Biden himself, to come to Ohio ahead of November?

• Dr. Lauren Beene:

  This has really been truly a grassroots movement. Initially, we started as a small group of doctors, and then we really exploded into a group of thousands of doctors and thousands of volunteers.

  We are moving from the ground up. And I know that we have gotten some attention from national leaders. I haven't personally reached out to President Biden regarding this myself .I know a lot of other people in the reproductive health care space have.

  But, for us, we have been so focused on gathering signatures, keeping this momentum moving forward, and really just getting the people out to vote. And we, of course, appreciate the support of anybody. No matter how — what state you're in, what level of government you're in, we appreciate — appreciate everybody's support, because this is, we believe, protecting an essential person's right, a person's right to reproductive freedom.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  Doctor, it's been a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

  Your organization was founded right after that decision. What is the state of abortion access in Ohio? And what have you and your patients experienced?

• Dr. Lauren Beene:

  So, immediately after the Dobbs decision fell, a few hours later, I think it was about seven hours, a trigger ban went into effect, which made abortion illegal in the state of Ohio after the point at which cardiac activity could be detected, which is about six weeks.

  People refer to that as the heartbeat ban. And the heartbeat ban was in effect for 11 weeks. And during that 11-week period, it was absolutely terrible. People were not able to get the care that they needed. People were forced to leave the state. I think a lot of people heard about the 10-year-old girl who was raped and impregnated and had to go to Indiana and have an abortion there because she couldn't get care in our state.

  So it's just horrible story after horrible story. But, thankfully, in October, that ban was suspended through a temporary stay, in which some very smart attorneys argued that it was unconstitutional in a lower court. So, currently, the heartbeat ban is blocked, but it could be put back into effect at any moment.

  So, for the last several months, we have actually been functioning in Ohio in a — under pre-Dobbs law.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  That's Dr. Lauren Beene of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights.

  Thank you so much.

• Dr. Lauren Beene:

  Thank you so much.

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