The proposed amendment has been a highly debated topic for several months.
Ohio voters are getting ready to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would permit abortions within the state, according to a September 2023 Associated Press article. Bowling Green State University student organizations and a state senator are reacting to the potential changes the amendment could bring.
Voters will decide on Issue 1, also known as “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” which seeks to allow more options for women’s reproductive health in the Nov. 7 election.
“Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including, but not limited to, decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion,” the official petition filed with the Ohio attorney general’s office said.
The proposed amendment has been a highly debated topic for several months.
Morgan Reece, a fourth-year business major, is the president of Falcons for Life, an anti-abortion student organization at BGSU. She said her organization strongly opposes the potential amendment.
“We are opposed to Issue 1 because we believe that all life should be protected from conception to natural death, because all human beings, whether they’re inside the womb or outside the womb, deserve human rights,” she said.
However, others say the government should not interfere with limiting one’s healthcare decisions.
Damon Sherry, a fourth-year political science major, is the president of the BGSU College Democrats. They said decisions in the amendment should remain confidential between the patient and health care provider.
“The BGSU College Democrats remain committed to the idea that reproductive health and the right to their own body remains a personal conversation between them and their doctor. We believe in an individual’s right to choose, and that the government should have no say in restricting the health of those who choose to receive an abortion or other reproductive care,” said Sherry.
However, in Reece’s opinion, if the amendment passes, it could have implications for the BGSU community.
“I think it would just continue the culture of death that we have on our campus and across our country, because when you don’t even view the baby in the womb as a human being, you start to dehumanize them and dehumanize life, in general,” she said. “So, it is really hard to respect life when you don’t even respect it from the beginning.”
The amendment has also drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum due to a recent change by the Ohio Ballot Board. The new language of Issue 1 changed the original wording of “fetus” to an updated wording of “unborn child.”
Sherry said they believe the original wording of the amendment was acceptable, but the updated language portrays the amendment in a bad light.
“The word usage by the Ohio Ballot Board is purposely attempting to guilt trip the general public into a negative reaction to the amendment,” they said. “Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost approved the amendment, stating the language was fair and accurate the way it was originally written.”
However, despite the controversy surrounding the wording, some are satisfied with the board’s changes.
Senator Theresa Gavarone, R-Ohio, who represents Ohio Senate District 2, which includes Wood County, provided the following statement to Falcon Media and posted to her website regarding the updated language of the amendment:
“The Ohio Ballot Board’s mission was to create ballot language that accurately describes the proposed amendment as written. The language of the amendment is purposefully written very broadly. As such, the summary approved accurately reflects the broad language of the amendment. I wish the language would have been more specific to the voters as to what this proposed amendment means and the disastrous consequences its passage will have on women and families. That being said, I am thankful to have played a part in setting the record straight and am proud to deliver the truth to Ohioans about this dangerous proposal.”
While one person may not be able to influence everybody, Reece, Sherry and Gavarone all said they will continue to advocate for the outcome they want to see, one vote at a time.