Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) spent last week laying out the stakes of abortion rights fights in Ohio to mark the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
“We won’t go back to a state or a country where we don’t have the right to safe, quality reproductive care. We’re in for the fight of our lives, and Ohio Democrats aren’t backing down. We’re organizing in communities across the state and standing in solidarity with the millions of Ohioans who are ready to tell these radical Republicans: we won’t go back,” said Chair Walters.
- One year after the fall of Roe, Ohio Republicans have continued their assault on reproductive rights in Ohio, sneaking through a $15 million, taxpayer-funded election in August with the goal of preventing an abortion rights ballot initiative from passing in November. Frank LaRose even said the quiet part out loud, admitting that the August election is ‘100 percent’ about abortion.
- On the federal level, every Republican running for U.S. Senate in 2024 holds out-of-step positions on abortion, including supporting abortion bans that make no exceptions for rape or incest.
Ohio Democrats are fighting like hell to mobilize voters to vote NO on Issue 1 in August and vote to support abortion rights in November, and have collected more than 100,000 signatures to put the abortion rights issue on the ballot this November.
Read more from local outlets below on Ohio Democrats’ efforts to protect abortion rights in Ohio and tell out-of-touch, corrupt politicians, we won’t go back:
Cleveland.com: Ohio Democrats collect more than 100,000 signatures for abortion-rights measure
Andrew Tobias
June 20, 2023
- Leaders of the Ohio Democratic Party say they have collected just more than 100,000 voter signatures ahead of a key state deadline to set a statewide election in November for a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
- “We’re excited about what this means for the campaign, and what it means for mobilization efforts, and what we’ve been able to build and maintain,” Walters said.
- Walters said the Ohio Democratic Party’s 100,000-plus signatures include at least one from all of Ohio’s 88 counties. She said counties where the party is ahead of its goals include a variety of rural and/or heavily Republican areas: Athens, Defiance, Knox, Morgan, Hancock and Warren counties.
- Walters said the abortion-rights and anti-Issue 1 campaigns are giving Ohio Democrats a chance to fire up their base of supporters while building out a statewide political operation, including in more rural areas. This is part of the case the state party will make to national donors and party leaders, who are increasingly wary of Democrats’ chances in Ohio, heading into 2024, when Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown will be seeking reelection.
- “We’ve been reinvesting heavily in our rural community to build our county parties up, build volunteer infrastructure and mobilize the grassroots over the last two and a half years,” Walters said. “And I think what you’re seeing here is that Democrats, when they have the support they need activists when they have the support they need, they show up.”
WOSU: Debate over abortion continues in central Ohio a year after Roe v. Wade was overturned
George Shillcock
June 23, 2023
- The Ohio Democratic Party on the other hand has not been shy about its success in gathering signatures. The party is part of a coalition of several groups collecting signatures and said it has collected over 100,000 so far.
- Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters and Ohio House of Representatives Assistant Minority Leader Allison Russo marked Friday with a press conference looking back on the Dobbs decision last year and previewing the next few months of fighting for an abortion rights amendment.
- “We’re organizing in communities across the state, and we’re standing in solidarity with the millions of Ohioans who are ready to tell these radical Republicans we won’t go back. The easiest way to send that message is to vote,” Walters said.
- Russo and Walters also criticized many Ohio Republicans and U.S. Senate candidates for their positions on abortion. They also urged voters to vote against Issue 1 that is on the ballot in August.
- If passed, Issue 1 would make it harder to pass constitutional amendments in Ohio by raising the threshold to amend the Ohio Constitution to 60% of voters.
- Walters, Russo, Copeland and even Harrington are clear that the August election and the November abortion rights amendment are connected.
- “It’s a corrupt power grab by special interest in the politicians who continue to do their bidding, and it’s clear what their end goal is. It is a total ban on abortion,” Russo said.
WSYX-TV Columbus: Ohio in center of maelstrom a year after Roe v. Wade overturn
Darrel Rowland
June 23, 2023
- Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that abortion is not a constitutional right.
- “It was a turning point for our nation to be sure, but also a turning point here at home in Ohio,” said Liz Walters, Ohio Democratic chair, on a party Zoom call Friday to mark the year since Dobbs v Jackson was decided.
- But groundbreaking changes could be coming in the next few months. Abortion rights supporters are wrapping up a petition drive to bring a statewide vote in November on whether the right to have an abortion should be enshrined in the Ohio Constitution.
- “In Ohio, we are in the fight of our lives to protect abortion rights,” said Upper Arlington Rep. Allison Russo, House Democratic leader, in the Zoom call.
- But opponents are seeking to blunt that effort through a measure on Ohio’s Aug. 8 special election ballot. If voters approve, that issue would raise the threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment from the current 50% plus 1 to 60%.
- “It’s a corrupt power grab by the special interests and the politicians who continue to do their bidding,” Russo said.
- “They’ve made clear what their ultimate goal is: Leading the country on a complete and total ban on abortion,” said Walters about those who oppose abortion rights.
Findlay Courier: Ohio is Ground Zero
Angela LaRosa
June 25, 2023
- The battle over reproductive rights was commemorated over the weekend, with both sides marking the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade.
- On Friday, the Ohio Democratic Party hosted a press conference to mark the one-year anniversary with Party Chair Liz Walters and Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington.
- Ohio Democrats, independents and others are circulating petitions across the state to add a state constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights. Signatures from Ohio voters on the petitions will continue being collected up until early next month. The deadline to file the petition to qualify for the November ballot is July 5.
- It’s a call to arms for everyone who believes in equal rights and freedom, according to Walters.
- “We won’t go back to a state or a country where we don’t have the right to safe, quality reproductive care,” she said. “We’re in for the fight of our lives and Ohio Democrats aren’t backing down.”
- A recent NBC News poll found that 61% of all registered voters disapprove of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a number that has been consistent since the ruling.
Megan Henry
June 26, 2023
- As Ohio Democrats are reflecting on one year since the Dobbs decision, they are also looking ahead to next year’s U.S. Senate Race in Ohio.
- “Let me make one thing clear — every single candidate running for Ohio’s seat supports an abortion ban, including bans that make no exceptions for rape or incest,” House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said Friday morning during a press conference. “There’s no doubt in my mind that if elected, any one of these Republican candidates would support a total abortion ban without exceptions in Ohio and across the nation.”
- Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan, R- Chagrin Falls, and entrepreneur Bernie Moreno are trying to become Ohio’s U.S. Senator in 2024 by challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is also expected to throw his hat in the ring and has sent out a fundraising request disguised as an important letter to Ohioans.
- “They would make it harder for women to access health care during the most personal difficult circumstances,” Russo said.
- LaRose has admitted that Issue 1, which Ohioans will vote on during Aug. 8’s special election, is, “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.”
- “The Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio would support a total abortion ban at the national level,” ODP Chair Elizabeth Walters said. “And if Republicans take back the Senate will see unprecedented attacks on women and abortion rates in this country.”
WTVG-TV Toledo: Ohio Democratic Party Press Conference on Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Reversal
- Tomorrow marks one year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. The Ohio Democratic Party held a virtual news conference today to discuss the future of abortion access.
- This November, Ohioans will vote to decide whether or not to enshrine abortion access into the state’s constitution. The Chair of the ODP says they’re not backing down.
- “We’ve collected more than 103,000 signatures from all 88 counties here in Ohio, we’ve made nearly 25,000 phone calls, we’ve trained more than 150 grassroots volunteer leaders across the state, we’re organizing in communities across the state and we’re standing in solidarity with the millions of Ohioans who are ready to tell these radical Republicans: we won’t go back.”
- In August, a special election will determine whether to raise the threshold for approving constitutional amendments in the future from a simple majority to 60 percent.
WBNS-TV Columbus: Roe v. Wade Overturned: One Year Later
- “What this is really about is that healthcare choices belong to women, their families and medical professionals. What we should never support is politicians inserting themselves into those very private, personal and important decisions.”
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