In a decision filed Friday, the Ohio Supreme Court dealt a blow to anti-abortion advocates when it rejected a lawsuit that sought to keep an abortion rights amendment from appearing on the November ballot.
The lawsuit, which was filed last month after enough signatures had been collected for the amendment to be put in front of voters in the upcoming general election, was filed by former Republican State Rep. Thomas Brinkman and Jennifer Giroux, a Catholic shop owner in Hamilton County who is also running for a state house seat.
The main arguments in the lawsuit against Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state and the coalition of groups who created the proposed amendment claim that the petition proposal “failed to comply with all of the statutory requirements for an initiative petition,” including listing existing laws that would be changed or removed if the constitutional amendment is approved by voters.
The proposed constitutional amendment would codify abortion in the state and allow pregnancy decisions to be between the pregnant person and a physician and viability to be determined by medical experts.
The Ohio Supreme Court wrote in its opinion, "We deny Giroux’s challenge under Article II, Section 1g of the Ohio Constitution because R.C. 3519.01(A) does not require a petition proposing a constitutional amendment to include the text of an existing statute. Because the challenge fails for this reason, we need not address the committee’s remaining arguments."
The Ohio Capital Journal contributed to this report.
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