COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG-Ohio) which represents the interests of more than 1,500 obstetrician-gynecologists in the state, today officially endorsed “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” citizen-initiated Constitutional amendment. The Amendment provides that “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.”
“This commonsense amendment will restore and protect the vital reproductive rights that were guaranteed by Roe v. Wade for fifty years,” Dr. David Hackney, Chair of AGOG-Ohio and Dr. Amy Burkett, the organization’s immediate past Chair said in a joint statement.
The endorsement comes amid increasing restrictions on abortion access across the country. Recently, Mississippi and Texas passed or introduced laws that severely restrict or ban abortions. As a result, medical groups and reproductive rights organizations have increasingly become vocal advocates for protecting reproductive rights.
The ACOG-Ohio’s endorsement is part of a growing trend of medical groups advocating for reproductive rights. A recent national poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 67% of Americans believe Roe v. Wade should be upheld, with 71% saying they oppose overturning the ruling.
Ohioans will have the chance to vote on abortion rights in November 2023, during the state’s next elections. Advocates for reproductive rights gathered more than 1,000,000 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot that would repeal a recently passed Ohio law that bans abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. If the referendum made it on the ballot and passed, the law would be repealed, and abortion would remain legal in Ohio. However, Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature could have intervened and enacted the bill without voters’ approval, as has happened in other states in recent years.
The ACOG-Ohio stated that they support the amendment because it will ensure all Ohioans have access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, empower patients and doctors to make decisions about contraception, assisted fertility treatment, and abortion without interference from the government, and will prevent the enactment of laws that are not supported by research or the best available medical evidence.
“Abortion is a safe medical procedure that significantly reduces maternal morbidity and mortality. Carrying a pregnancy to term is 14 times more likely to lead to death than a legal abortion. Criminalizing the use of evidence-based standards creates a serious ethical dilemma for physicians who are forced to choose between providing the medically indicated treatment patients need and breaking the law. The amendment will eliminate that dilemma by protecting the full range of reproductive care options now and in the years ahead,” they added.
Regardless of the outcome, the debate around abortion access and rights is likely to remain a contentious issue in Ohio and across the United States. As Drs. Hackney and Burkett of the ACOG-Ohio stated, “Enshrining reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, in the Constitution is the only way to ensure that this dangerous, intolerable scenario is never repeated in our state.”