Dem
51
GOP
49
Supports of abortion rights in Ohio filed a petition with 710,131 signatures to put an abortion question on the ballot in Nov. 2023. It needs 413,487 valid signatures (10% of the number of people who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election). It will take several weeks before it is known if the initiative made it, but with so many extra signatures, it probably will have enough. If it makes the ballot, it will be the only abortion initiative on the ballot in 2023. If it passes, it will enshrine the right to an abortion in the Ohio Constitution.
However, even if the proposition makes the ballot, getting it passed and part of the state constitution is another matter. There is a special election on Aug. 8 on what is called Issue 1 that, if successful, would change the threshold for initiatives passing from 50% + 1 to 60% + 1. This is patently an attempt to kill off citizens' initiatives, such as the abortion one. If the Aug. 8 initiative passes, henceforth, it will be necessary to get signatures in each of Ohio's 88 counties. Some of them are very small and very rural and very Republican, so any somewhat left-leaning initiative is going to have trouble qualifying. The signature-gathering requirement does not apply to the abortion initiative since its signatures were turned in before the vote on Issue 1.
Currently, abortion is legal in Ohio before 22 weeks of pregnancy because although the legislature passed a tighter ban, the courts have held it up. (V)