Ohio passed an amendment to its state constitution on Tuesday, solidifying the right to an abortion for its citizens some 17 months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.
The amendment, called Issue I, gives individuals agency over their reproductive health care decisions, including those concerning contraception, fertility treatment and miscarriage care. It also allows interference of an abortion after “fetal viability,” up to the discretion of the pregnant person’s physician.
The approval comes after the state’s Senate Bill 23, dubbed the Heartbeat Law, went into effect immediately following the federal Dobbs decision on June 24, 2022, banning abortions after the detection of a heartbeat, typically around six weeks. A county judge blocked that law, calling it unconstitutional.
With a deluge of Ohio residents traveling to Pennsylvania for abortions and reproductive services post-Dobbs, the reinstatement of rights in Ohio could impact Pennsylvania clinics. Indeed, some are expecting to see decline in traffic as options expand. But a state-by-state landscape peppered with new bills could complicate things, even with the Ohio amendment in place.
While Pennsylvania’s constitution does not similarly guarantee the right to an abortion, the procedure is legal in the commonwealth.
The Ohio amendment passed with roughly 56% approval across the state. Ohio’s major cities, including Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus, helped carry the vote, with surrounding rural counties mostly in opposition. According to the Associated Press, a “significant number of Republicans” joined Democrats to secure the measure’s passage.
The Ohio measure has been closely watched, as it stood out this general election as the only such ballot item concerning abortion in the U.S. Majority-Republican Ohio has now joined California, Vermont and Michigan in guaranteeing abortion protections statewide.
Nikkole Terney, director of abortion care at Allegheny Reproductive Health Center in East Liberty, said she and her team were excited about the Ohio amendment passing.
Allegheny Reproductive is the second-largest abortion provider in Western Pennsylvania, aside from Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, located Downtown, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment. UPMC Magee-Women’s Hospital, which provided around 100 abortions each quarter in 2021 and 2022, per statistics provided to the Post-Gazette by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in May, also could not be made available for comment.
“We always support access, especially when people [would otherwise] have to travel,” said Ms. Terney. Allegheny Reproductive experienced a 41% spike in requests for care immediately after Dobbs was repealed, compared to the months before the Supreme Court decision. The clinic received more than 100 calls a day at the time, said Ms. Terney, and brought volunteers in to help answer phones.
Many of those patient newcomers were from states such as Ohio, after the Heartbeat Law went into effect. Ms. Terney said while they expect a slight decline following Issue I’s passage, the team is not concerned — they’re simply happy that more people have access to reproductive health services.
“This [bill] means that fewer folks are going to have to travel to access care, and this is really important, especially for those with fewer resources,” said Dr. Sarah Horvath, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and a practicing OB/GYN at Penn State Health in Hershey, Pennsylvania. “We know a majority of the folks who need abortion care are already parents, so not having to raise money for childcare, and taking less paid time off work, is a real win for patients.”
Dr. Horvath’s clinic also saw an influx in patients from Ohio seeking care — as well as from Western Pennsylvania, as wait times increased for Pittsburgh patients alongside the influx of out-of-staters.
She said that bump has leveled off, though there’s a possibility any further expected declines could be canceled out by travelers from states with restrictive abortion laws in the legislature. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 6-week abortion ban into law in April; it cannot, however, go into effect until a separate, 15-week ban is upheld in court, according to NPR.
“We’re getting ready for a potential increase from Florida patients and preparing for an influx anyway,” said Ms. Terney. Dr. Horvath concurred that her team was still figuring out “what the fallout from Florida will be.”
Greer Donley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law who specializes in tracking abortion law, said that while the Ohio amendment may not directly impact care in Allegheny County, clinics are still seeing patients from neighboring states with restrictive laws, such as West Virginia, and states even farther away.
“We are learning that abortion travel is regional, and folks in the deep South are traveling far distances to get care,” she said. “If we do see Florida enforce a 6-week ban, which we expect, that could certainly cause an influx in patients traveling.”
Ms. Donley also expects retaliatory bills contesting the Ohio amendment to come forth.
“We are almost certainly going to see a lot of new laws in Ohio pushing boundaries and seeing how protective this new law is,” she said.
But with support for reproductive rights ballooning across certain regions, she said legislators are starting to recognize that pushing the envelope might not be the best idea.
Locally, abortion protections played into some voters’ decisions to cast their ballots for Sara Innamorato, who was vocal about her stance on the issue while campaigning for Allegheny County Executive, a race she won yesterday to become the first woman to hold the position.
What makes the Ohio amendment’s passage such a “win for patients,” said Dr. Horvath, is that abortion access highlights issues of health equity.
“It’s about who can access care and how far they have to travel to get it,” she said. “The farther they have to travel, the more money they have to raise. … It comes down to who can and who cannot get the medical care they need.”
Hanna Webster: hwebster@post-gazette.com
First Published: November 9, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: November 9, 2023, 9:08 p.m.
