Election night delivered another setback to the pro-life movement as a majority of the Ohio electorate voted to approve Issue 1 and enshrine abortion protections in the state's constitution.
That's seven straight ballot measure losses for the pro-life movement since Roe v. Wade's reversal less than a year and half ago. Life-affirming measures in Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana were defeated, while voters approved pro-abortion constitutional amendments in Michigan, Vermont, California, and now Ohio.
The Ohio loss is especially disappointing for pro-lifers because the movement seemed to have adopted a number of positive strategy changes. These included more funding, ballot language humanizing the preborn baby, polling that seemed to be trending for life, involvement of elected state officials, and increased collaboration between pro-life organizations.
So what went wrong in Ohio? Why does the pro-life movement keep missing the mark on ballot measures?
First, what Americans say they believe about abortion and how they vote do not correlate.
Gallup's most recent polling on the issue demonstrates that 64 percent of Americans support some kind of restriction on abortion. In the same poll, 70 percent of Americans said they believe late-term abortion should be illegal.
Given those numbers, one would think that a ballot measure legalizing abortion throughout all stages of pregnancy would not garner the support of a majority of the electorate. But that's exactly what happened in Ohio.
Last Tuesday, by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent, Ohioans approved a measure that embraces unregulated abortion-on-demand and enshrines late-term abortion in the state constitution. Ironically, it was by that exact same margin, 57 percent to 43 percent, that voters passed Michigan's abortion amendment last fall.
The abortion lobby is very effective at spreading misinformation and fear to win elections. Abortion activists in Ohio campaigned on the idea that if the amendment didn't pass, women would die. Of course, that's not true. Every state in America with pro-life laws allows for pregnant women to receive medically necessary care in an emergency. But abortion activists continue to spread lies and use scare tactics to persuade the American people to embrace their radical agenda.
Second, funding continues to be a problem for the pro-life movement.
The pro-abortion establishment outraised and outspent pro-life groups in all seven ballot measure elections. Of course, money isn't everything, but when it comes to elections, money gives you access to voters. More money means more time communicating a narrative to the electorate.
Pro-life organizations did a better job fundraising in Ohio than they had in Michigan. In Michigan, the abortion lobby outraised pro-life groups by more than $26 million. As of late October, there was only about a $12 million difference in funding raised by the abortion lobby over pro-life groups. Despite this, pro-lifers in Ohio still lost by the same 14-point margin.
Raising money to defeat abortion amendments is necessary, but it doesn't change culture. And we have a culture problem. A majority of Americans say they want restrictions on abortion, but when pressed at the ballot box they vote for unrestricted abortion.
Investing in culture to change hearts and minds on abortion must be a priority if the pro-life movement wants to see more pro-life laws.
Finally, the pro-life movement must be more strategic about defeating ballot measures initiated by abortion activists. Next fall, we can expect to see even more states voting on pro-abortion amendments, including Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona, and Florida.
Under current law, 18 states allow for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments. Pro-life lawmakers in these states should consider tightening procedures to amend the state constitution, including raising the threshold of votes required to approve an amendment from a majority vote to a supermajority of 60 percent. If the effort to do this in Ohio had been successful, the abortion amendment would have failed.
Other options to tighten procedures include requiring more signatures, requiring signatures from more counties, residency requirements for signature gatherers, badge requirements for paid and volunteer signature gatherers, and banning pay-per-signature methods.
Yes, pro-life organizations are disappointed by the Ohio vote. Women, families, and babies will be victimized by this constitutional amendment.
But make no mistake, the pro-life movement will carry on. We will continue to help women, defend the innocent, and promote life over death.
Overcoming social evils does not happen in one election. It took nearly 50 years for the legal mess of Roe to be corrected. It will take time to reform our culture, but it is possible.
William Wilberforce, a British politician who led the effort in Parliament to abolish the slave trade, labored nearly 50 years to bring the evils of slavery to an end. He and many others worked diligently, in the face of many setbacks, to change cultural opinion, business practices, and finally, the law.
Changing our culture's opinion on abortion will take dogged commitment, perseverance, and patience. Overcoming pro-abortion ballot measures will require discernment and course corrections. This new chapter for pro-life advocates will bring new challenges, but if the last 50 years tell us anything, it is that we will rise to the occasion. We will persevere. And ultimately, we will overcome.
Nicole Hunt, J.D., is a mom who serves as a writer and spokesperson for Focus on the Family.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
