Four Ohio Republican state lawmakers are seeking to strip judges of their power to interpret an abortion rights amendment after voters opted to enshrine those rights in the state's constitution this week.
"To prevent mischief by pro-abortion courts with Issue 1, Ohio legislators will consider removing jurisdiction from the judiciary over this ambiguous ballot initiative," said the mix of fairly new and veteran lawmakers who are all vice chairs of various House committees. "The Ohio Legislature alone will consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws based on public hearings and input from legal experts on both sides.
Abortion rights advocates plan to ask the courts to repeal any remaining abortion bans and restrictions on the books in Ohio, including a mandatory 24-hour period that abortion seekers must wait before they can have the procedure and a ban on abortions after a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome.