this past week a County judge in Ohio struck down the state's near total ban on abortions he said it violated a voter approved Constitutional Amendment protecting Reproductive Rights the ruling is likely to be reviewed by the state supreme court which underscores the importance of races on many state ballots this fall that are flying under the radar fixing the border is tough so is kamla Harris but businessman and political Outsider Bernie Marino will fix it Ohio's Airwaves are filled with campaign ads I'm shared Brown and I'll never stop fighting for Ohio Workers for presidential and US Senate candidates I'm kamla Harris and I approve this message but what about the three other Statewide races do you know who's running for state supreme court no do you know who's running for the state supreme court uh Bernie Mareno and uh what's his name do you know who's running for state supreme court no shared Brown that's actually the US Senate the contest for 6ear terms here on the state supreme court aren't getting nearly the attention that the presidential and Senate races are getting here in Ohio but the outcome of those Court elections could have long-term consequences for Ohioans in areas like civil rights redistricting and especially abortion Ohio is one of 33 States voting on Supreme Court Justices this year contests that are usually lowkey and low profile I wish more people were paying attention Justice Melody Stewart a Democrat and the first black woman elected to the court is running for reelection the other day I think I was in six different counties and then the engine light came on in my car so earlier this month she met with voters at the home of a supporter in a Columbus suburb hard for you too all right we drive ourselves around you know we schle our own signs we hand out our campaign signature I doubt if Bernie Marino and shered brown have placed a sign anywhere but the post they're running for can be very powerful State Supreme Courts are hearing major high stakes cases across the country Alicia banon is director of the Judiciary program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School and editor of the state court report State Supreme Courts are typically the final word in interpreting state law and State institutions so they're really powerful institutions and they're becoming even more important as in a number of critical areas the US Supreme Court has increasingly stepped back from being a major source of rights protection here you he you hey The Honorable Supreme Court of Ohio is now an open session pursuant to adjournment in Ohio the Supreme Court will have to consider the state's abortion restrictions in light of the Constitutional Amendment approved last year with 57% of the vote it says every individual has a right to make and Carry Out one's own reproductive decisions next month's election will shape the composition of the seven justices who will hear the cases three seats are at stake and the candidates are running on party tickets a possible outcomes range from a commanding Republican majority to a slim Democratic majority which would be the first time in decades that there'd be more liberal justices than conservatives that's unlikely given how the state is likely to go in terms of Republican vote voters can only use ballot dropboxes to Karen Castor is the State House bureau chief for Ohio public media and hosted the weekly show the state of Ohio when you've got people who are motivated to vote Republican people who are motivated to vote Democrat that party label is really important here usually Supreme Court races had been at the bottom and there was a lot of fallof between the top of the ticket and the bottom of the ticket I don't think there's going to be as much fall off this time just because you've got those partisans labels and they're up higher while voters may not be paying a lot of attention to these races groups on both sides of Reproductive Rights are while all races are important you know we care about them all there is nothing more important than the Ohio Supreme Court Mike ganadas is president of Ohio right to life which has endorsed all three Republican candidates we believe uh on the issue of abortion we would want a conservative voice deciding what these words mean the court the third branch of government now needs to weigh in this election in some ways is an extension of the important vote um for the reproductive Freedom amendment that we passed last year Emily Freeman is an abortion provider with Planned Parenthood of Gro Ohio which has endorsed all three Democratic candidates passing that reproductive Freedom Amendment um allowed us to slowly um you know dismantle those restrictions and return access back to the state of Ohio I think the take-home message is is that people in Ohio believe that abortion is Healthcare unlike others on the Statewide ballot Court candidates like Justice Stewart can't say much about Reproductive Rights one reason why these races these three races are being watched so closely of course is because of abortion you can you say anything about that um only that you know the reproductive Freedom amendment is the law of the state of Ohio with regard to Reproductive Rights and really that's that's kind of all there is to say about it at least at this Point Stuart's Republican opponent fellow Justice Joe deers declined an on camera interview but said in a statement I sworn an oath to uphold our Constitution and that's what I do every day there might be issues from time to time that I personally disagree with but that will never affect the duty I have to uphold that oath it's dangerous when judges are taking partisan approaches to the cases they are handling yet so little attention is being paid to these contests that when voters mark their ballots many of them may not know much about the candidates beyond their party labels.