2026: ProLife Across Ohio Gaining Traction

In November 2023, Ohioans voted to enshrine so called “Reproductive Rights” into the Ohio Constitution. Supporters of Issue 1 continue to turn to progressive Ohio courts, seeking to expand the boundaries of unrestricted abortion well beyond the morality and values Ohioans hold with respect to life.

In what has become increasingly routine since the passage of Issue 1, Ohio courts have been called upon to dismantle even the most basic of common sense limitations on the termination of an unborn life. For example:

• “Heartbeat Bill” signed into law in 2019 this bill sought to prohibit an abortion if a baby’s heartbeat was detected. Contrary to the will of Ohioans, in 2024 a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian Jenkins ruled the Heartbeat Bill unconstitutional
• Down Syndrome Discrimination Law passed in 2017 to prohibit ‘eugenic’ abortions for the sole reason of a baby’s diagnosis of Down Syndrome.  This law seeking to protect the defenseless was challenged unsuccessfully by pro-abortion activists when the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the government has the right to protect children from disability discrimination before and after birth.
• 24 Hour Waiting Period/In Person Visit Requirement/Information Requirement Regarding the Abortion Procedure Plaintiffs including abortion providers have filed suit in Preterm-Cleveland v. Yost seeking to declare unconstitutional common sense measures meant to provide pregnant women with information and an opportunity to meet in person with a doctor.

Recent legislation introduced in the Ohio Statehouse shows the pro-life movement in Ohio has not only begun to ‘hold the line’ but pushing back in defense of the unborn and expectant women.

• She Wins Act sponsored by State Representatives Mike Odioso and Josh Williams and recently passed the house and moves to the Senate. She Wins seeks to require the abortion procedure meet the same informed consent standards as all medical care. The act:

◦      Assures a pregnant woman meets with a physician
◦      That the physician provides specific information to the pregnant woman
◦      The pregnant woman provides written informed consent 24 hours before an elective abortion 

Ohio House Health Committee Chair Jean Schmidt notes She Wins, “provides women with the right to knowledge and empowers them to make fully informed decisions”. 

• Patient Protection Act sponsored by State Representatives Adam Mathews and Meredith Craig  and passed by the House.  This bill seeks to provide transparency by informing women of the risks associated with “chemical abortion” procedure. The Abortion Pill Harms Women study by Ethics and Public Policy Center reveals:

◦      10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.
◦      The real-world rate of serious adverse events following mifepristone abortions is at least 22 times as high as the summary figure of “less than 0.5 percent” in clinical trials reported on the drug label.

The Patient Protection Act would require a patient being prescribed a “high risk” medications, one with at least a 5% chance of severe harm, to meet in-person with the prescriber of the abortion drug.  “By requiring direct evaluations and prohibiting the mail-order delivery of dangerous drugs, this legislation protects Ohioans from gaps in oversight that can occur through telehealth,” said Representative Craig.  Representative Mathews observed, “The Hippocratic Oath is to ‘Do No Harm,’ and with the proliferation of mail order medication, some drugs are severely injuring over one in twenty patients.”

• The Baby Olivia Act sponsored by State Representative Melanie Miller and passed the Ohio House, the Baby Olivia Act would enhance health education in Ohio schools by requiring medically accurate video about early human growth and development in school curriculum in grades three through twelve.  The bill’s name is inspired by a video entitled Baby Olivia, which shows a developing child in the womb with scientifically accurate descriptions of the stages of human development.  This bill will debunk the idea a child in the womb is only a “clump of cells” or “tissue.”

These bills join others introduced in both the Ohio House and Senate seeking to educate as well as protect Ohioans.  They are encouraging signs the tide is beginning to turn in Ohio against the unrestricted excesses of Issue 1.