Ohio abortion measure won't be sent back to square 1, state Supreme Court rules

The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an attempt to send Ohio's proposed abortion amendment back to square one.

The court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the Ohio Ballot Board did not abuse its discretion by keeping the proposed constitutional amendment as one issue rather than dividing it into multiple ones.

"Because the petition at issue in this case contains a single constitutional amendment, the ballot board did not abuse its discretion or disregard applicable law," according to the court's decision.

Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, in a separate opinion, agreed that the ballot board followed the law but wrote: "I would hold that a proposed amendment is not limited to a single subject, object, or purpose." Fellow Republican Justices Pat DeWine and Joe Deters signed onto that opinion.

A lawsuit, filed by former Cincinnati Right to Life executive director Meg DeBlase and member John Giroux, argued that the five-member Ohio Ballot Board should have split the proposed abortion amendment, which seeks to protect access to abortion, contraception and miscarriage care in Ohio.

The board, led by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, defended its decision to keep the proposal as one issue. It wrote in a legal filing: "The Ballot Board did not abuse its discretion or disregard applicable law and its decision should not be disturbed."

Proponents of abortion access have until July 5 to collect the 413,446 valid signatures needed to make the November ballot. If the Ohio Supreme Court had ordered a do-over, that would have set signature collectors back months and jeopardized their efforts.

The proposed amendment would protect individuals' rights to make reproductive decisions from contraception and fertility treatment to abortion. The state, including lawmakers and prosecutors, could not prohibit or penalize that right before viability, which is about 22 to 24 weeks into pregnancy.

Opponents say this amendment goes too far and is out of touch with Ohioans' views on abortion. Abortion opponents back an August measure that would make it harder to amend the state constitution, raising the threshold needed from a simple majority to 60%.

Read the decision:

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.