Success In Ohio Triggers Effort To Get Abortion Rights On 2024 Ballots

AP: Advocates Across US Aim To Put Abortion On 2024 Ballots After Ohio Vote
After Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, advocates on both sides of the issue are looking at how they can get support on 2024 ballots in at least a dozen states. Here’s what’s happening in the states. (Mulvihill, 11/8)

Axios: Democrats' New Abortion Battle Plan: Rush To Get It On Ballots In 2024
Florida has one of the nation's most difficult processes for getting a state constitutional amendment initiative on the ballot, and some national Democrats believe proponents there began organizing too late. Any ballot initiative requires more than 890,000 signatures with at least half of the state's 28 congressional districts represented — and the conservative state Supreme Court could still throw it off the ballot, as Florida's attorney general is already arguing they should. (Kight and Thompson, 11/8)

More on Tuesday's election in Ohio —

The 19th: Election Results: Abortion Rights Motivated Voters In Ohio, Virginia And Beyond
Tuesday’s elections confirmed that voters remain concerned about threats to reproductive rights 16 months after the end of Roe v. Wade and the issue is a potent one for Democrats at the ballot box. The 12-point margin of victory of the Ohio ballot measure guaranteeing a right to abortion and other reproductive health care is energizing supporters of similar state referendums planned in 2024. Plus, Democrats’ new legislative majority in Virginia suggests voters are motivated by the issue even when it’s not directly on the ballot, an important indicator ahead of congressional and state races next year. (Panetta and Barclay, 11/8)

The New York Times: Democrats Spent Heavily On Abortion Ads, Leaning Into Searing Details 
Deeply personal and explicit, the ads signaled a new tone in Democrats’ messaging on abortion rights, one that confronts head-on the consequences of strict anti-abortion laws. (O'Brien and Corasaniti, 11/8)

Center For American Progress: How Ohio’s Special Election Results Will Both Protect Abortion And Affect Maternal Mortality In The State 
Ohio currently leads the nation in the greatest number of women affected by shortages and lack of access to maternity care in the United States. Post-Dobbs, in 2022, a total of more than 97,000 women in Ohio were affected by these reductions. Limited maternity care widens the gap in racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality, creates more obstacles for women to obtain care, and can ultimately force women to carry their pregnancies to term. And make no mistake, women who need maternal health care—which includes abortion care—are dying in Ohio. (Talukder, Weitz and Estep, 11/8)

NPR: As Ohio Affirms Abortion Rights, Michigan Preserves Some Restrictions
A year ago, Michigan Democrats celebrated the same kind of victory Ohio notched this week. Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3, a ballot measure proponents said would "#RestoreRoe" by creating a "new individual right to reproductive freedom" in the state constitution. But last week, Michigan Democrats failed to muster the votes needed from their own members to remove two key restrictions on abortion in that state — despite Democrats having control of the state House, Senate, and governorship for the first time in decades. (Wells, 11/8)

In other reproductive health news —

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Supreme Court Hears Effort To Defund Planned Parenthood
The Missouri legislature’s decision to allocate nothing in Medicaid reimbursements for services done by any facility or affiliate where abortions are performed, including Planned Parenthood, was argued before the Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday. The hearing comes three years after the same court ruled 6-1 that the state legislature must pay Planned Parenthood for treating Medicaid patients. Now, the issue is again before the state’s highest court after the legislature put no funding in its 2022 supplemental budget in Medicaid reimbursements for organizations like Planned Parenthood. (Kellogg, 11/8)

Stat: Abortion Clinic In Cancun Will Cater To Americans 
More than 5.6 million U.S. tourists head to Cancun every year, drawn to the Mexican port’s white sand beaches, all-inclusive resorts, and raucous nightlife. Soon there’s likely to be another reason to visit: MSI Reproductive Choices, an international reproductive health nonprofit, plans to open an abortion clinic in the city, partly designed to cater to travelers from the U.S. who are unable to get an abortion in their home states. (Goldhill, 11/9)

Reuters: Woman Arrested For Threatening To Kill Texas Federal Judge In Abortion Pill Case
A woman was arrested in Florida on Wednesday on charges that she threatened to kill a Texas federal judge who earlier this year suspended approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, according to court records. Alice Marie Pence placed a call from Florida to the chambers of a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, federal court around March 12 and threatened to kill him, according to a grand jury indictment. Though he was not named in the indictment, the only federal judge in Amarillo is U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. (Pierson, 11/8)