Gov. DeWine focuses abortion rights fight on November election

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - In his first public appearance since voters overwhelmingly rejected Issue 1 in Ohio’s August special election, Gov. Mike DeWine said he does not believe lawmakers should work to change the state’s abortion laws before the November general election where voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution.

DeWine had said earlier this year that he wanted the legislature to look at changing the state’s heartbeat abortion law to make it more appealing than the abortion rights amendment that will go before voters in November, but now he’s saying it’s too late and lawmakers should focus on that November vote instead.

Senate President Matt Huffman said after Issue 1 failed this week that he wanted the governor to detail changes he wants to see with the law. DeWine said Thursday he thinks lawmakers should see how things play out at the polls in November. He doesn’t think the abortion amendment will pass, calling it a “radical approach” that he doesn’t think is accepted by a majority of Ohioans. He did say, however, the state needs to adopt a widely-accepted abortion policy down the line.

DeWine wouldn’t elaborate on what parts of the amendment he believes are radical but did say we can expect to hear a lot more from him on this issue between now and November.

Copyright 2023 WTVG. All rights reserved.