Ohio abortion foes regroup after 2023 loss. Christian leader calls abortion ‘poisonous tree’

Christian groups and abortion opponents rallied at the Ohio Statehouse Friday, a show of solidarity after losing a key reproductive rights vote last year.

Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., described last year’s abortion rights victory as “a blow to our movement” − one they would continue to fight. Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer encouraged abortion opponents to work to change the public sentiment around abortion.

“If we want to make abortion illegal, we have to make it unthinkable first,” Baer told attendees at the third Ohio March for Life Friday. He described abortion as “a poisonous tree growing in America” fed by the country’s “broken, sexualized culture.”

Abortion rights proponents, however, say they aren’t going back after last year’s ballot victory. “We must continue to push back on abortion stigma, and we must continue to fight to ensure the Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment is enforced, not ignored,” Abortion Forward deputy director Jaime Miracle said.

Last year’s vote marked a significant shift in the fight over abortion in Ohio. For decades, abortion opponents chipped away at abortion access by passing bans and barriers to the procedure with the help of Ohio’s GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican governors.

In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned decisions about abortion access to state lawmakers and judges. A ban on nearly all abortions took effect for several months in Ohio, leaving patients who could afford to travel seeking abortions elsewhere.

Abortion opponents were optimistic, even pushing to ban abortion at conception during the first March for Life in 2022.

2023 vote expands abortion access in Ohio

That momentum shifted last November when abortion rights advocates passed a constitutional amendment to protect access to abortion, birth control and other reproductive decisions. Ohioans backed the measure with 57% of the vote, adding to the string of victories abortion rights proponents had notched in Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas and elsewhere.

The measure was passed in Democratic-heavy cities and Republican counties where former President Donald Trump won handily in 2020. Half of self-identifying evangelicals and Catholics voted for the abortion rights amendment, according to a Center for Christian Virtue postmortem of Issue 1.

Mary and Bill Kribbs, of Canal Fulton, said they are staying positive despite last year’s vote. “We need to turn that all around and make them trust us,” Mary Kribbs said.

“A baby is another person. It’s not part of the woman,” Bill Kribbs explained. “When you abort a baby, it’s murder.”

“That turns people off,” said Mary Kribbs, before offering several abortion alternatives.

In the months since Ohio’s vote, judges have blocked laws limiting abortion access, including a requirement that patients wait at least 24 hours after their initial appointment to have an abortion.

Before that amendment took effect, Ohio reported 22,000 abortions in 2023, up 19% from 2022 when a ban on most abortions was in effect for several months. More patients are coming from other states to have abortions here as neighboring states restrict abortion access.

Where does abortion opposition go from here?

In response to abortion rights victories, the Republican Party abandoned a longstanding plank of its national platform that advocated for a national abortion ban. Instead, Republicans said states should decide their abortion policy, USA TODAY reported.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who is former President Donald Trump’s running mate, said during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate that voters don’t trust Republicans on the issue of abortion right now. “We’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue where they frankly just don’t trust us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ohio lawmakers have introduced legislation to reallocate state money flowing to counties and municipalities if locals pay for abortions or services around them. Another bill would offer tax credits to “crisis pregnancy centers” that oppose abortions.

Three Republicans are running for Ohio Supreme Court to defend and expand the GOP majority. Decisions about abortion access and Ohio’s new constitutional amendment will end up before the justices. This fall, Republican Justice Joe Deters faces Democratic Justice Melody Stewart; Republican Judge Megan Shanahan faces Democratic Justice Michael Donnelly and Republican Judge Dan Hawkins faces Democratic Judge Lisa Forbes.

Baer told March for Life attendees to vote against the Democratic candidates, whom he described as “ideologues.”

Abortion Forward, which advocated for the abortion rights measure, also emphasized the importance of the Ohio Supreme Court. But they are backing the Democrats. “Anti-abortion extremists in the Republican Party refuse to listen to voters, so we must elect public officials who will − especially to the Supreme Court of Ohio,” Miracle said.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican who is defending Ohio’s abortion policies in court, attended the Ohio March for Life. He is expected to run for governor in 2026 against Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and others.

More: Ohio Supreme Court election has 6 candidates running for 3 seats

The Center for Christian Virtue also opposes Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that would replace politicians with a 15-member citizen commission to draw state legislative and congressional districts. The group opposes the measure in part because it’s backed by “radical leftist, pro-abortion and transgender organizations” like Planned Parenthood and Equality Ohio.

A group of abortion rights proponents protested the event at the statehouse, saying “abortion saves our lives.” Jordyn Close, deputy director of the Ohio Women’s Alliance, said it was important to remind Friday’s attendees that they aren’t the majority.

“The majority of Ohioans support access to abortion. We showed that last year with the turnout for the reproductive freedom amendment,” Close said. “This is our city. This is our state. We don’t take kindly to people trying to strip people of their bodily autonomy.”

For attendees like Tom Nance, of Columbus, Friday’s rally was an important reminder that they aren’t alone in their anti-abortion beliefs. “I feel uplifted by the number of people who share my views that life is sacred,” he said.

Jessie Balmert covers state government and politics 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.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio March for Life: Abortion foes move forward after 2023 loss