Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights

Background and Activities

Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights is a ballot-measure coalition that ran the 2023 campaign to approve Issue 1, which proposed to make abortion a right under the Ohio state constitution. The measure was voted on the November 7, 2023 ballot and later approved by voters to add the new amendment. ^{6 4 3}

2023 Ballot Measure Campaign

The campaign began in 2022 under the name Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom (ORF), a coalition launched by the ACLU of Ohio with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, Pro-Choice Ohio, URGE, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Ohio Women’s Alliance, Preterm-Cleveland, and the Abortion Fund of Ohio. In 2023, ORF merged with Protect Choice Ohio, a project of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPPR), and the consolidated campaign operated as “Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights” heading into the 2023 elections. ^{4 6 3}

The coalition pursued a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment and submitted more than 700,000 signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State in July 2023 to qualify the measure. That filing preceded a statewide August special election (a separate measure on the constitutional amendment process that would have changed the threshold for ballot measures that amend the constitution) and set up Issue 1 for the November general election. ²

The ballot measure passed with 56 percent of the vote in the November 2023 election after the group raised over $62 million in the effort, which included $51 million raised by the Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights and $11 million raised by Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom. ²

Top donors to the efforts included over $5 million from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, $4 million from the Open Society Policy Center, $3.6 million from the Tides Foundation, $2.3 million from the ACLU, and $1.7 million from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg donated $2 million to the group, and Democratic donor Lynn Schusterman donated $3 million. ⁷

Other donors included the Voter Participation Center, Hopewell Fund, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D), the ACLU Foundation, Advocacy Action Fund, North Fund, NARAL Pro Choice California, Ohio Women’s Project, URGE Unite for Reproductive Freedom, and On Your Side Ohio. ^{8 9}