by By Luke Branagan
The Battle for Reproductive Justice Transformed DSA in Ohio
A one-hundred year old process allowing Ohio voters to amend their own constitution has become the last hope for Abortion rights activists – and the last bulwark against the right’s corruption. These historic battles are transforming DSA and preparing the next generation of socialists for the many struggles ahead.
When the basic right to bodily autonomy was undemocratically stripped from the working class in June 2022, Ohioans immediately felt severe consequences. A trap had been laid years earlier in 2019, when Governor Mike Dewine signed Ohio’s now infamous “heartbeat bill” into law. The bill was a triumph of the Ohio Republican majority’s wanton cruelty, having no exemptions for cases of rape, incest, mental health or age of the patient. While the bill did include a measure that allowed exemptions to “avoid a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment,” critics pointed out that the wording was vague and heavily dependent on interpretation.
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Roe v. Wade was overturned by the United States Supreme Court against the will of a majority in the US. Ohio joined other GOP dominated states in passing barbarous “trigger bills” that restricted routine but life-saving abortions. The heartbeat law designated that abortion is illegal in the state of Ohio after six weeks of pregnancy. This is before most people begin to notice any signs that they may be pregnant.
One woman was turned away from care for days while bleeding out from complications related to a miscarriage, only to find out that the hospital was avoiding the legal liability of saving her life. Meanwhile the governor assured the media that women would not be rejected from receiving care if they met the criteria for the exemptions. In July, when a ten year old victim of rape had to flee Ohio to receive abortion in Illinois, the attorney general denied that it even happened, citing the exemptions that would not have protected the child. Affidavits were later released documenting dozens of minors forced to undergo the same traumas.
The heartbeat law was finally stalled in Ohio courts in September 2022, and became an indefinite ban in December, pending legislation. But not before 1,000 Ohio physicians drafted and signed an open letter of dissent titled “A Message to our Patients on the Loss of Reproductive Rights.”
The letter jump started the movement to counter this heinous reversal of basic rights. Within months a coalition had formed while advocates and allies prepared for a long struggle ahead. Thousands of volunteers from all over Ohio committed themselves to the legal and electoral struggle to overcome the twisted agenda of the politically dominant Republicans, whose gerrymandering and scheming represent a tiny minority of Ohioans.
The coalition for reproductive rights, centered around the NGO Protect Choice Ohio, decided that the best course of action that protected reproductive rights for Ohioans was a constitutional amendment that can’t be easily taken away by a powerful minority. Abortion rights groups had the language for the Reproductive Rights Amendment approved. The urgency and importance of the campaign motivated thousands of working people to donate their time and energy while money poured in from individual donors and progressive organizations.
The urgency and importance of the campaign motivated thousands of working people to donate their time and energy
A Movement to Change the Constitution
State constitutions had become the battleground for abortion rights in other states as well. In Kansas, an amendment that would enshrine no reproductive rights in the state constitution was shot down by 59 percent of voters in August 2022. In November, voters rejected a similar amendment in Kentucky. Abortion has been functionally illegal there since 2019, and a coalition emerged to protect the constitution from further tampering. Louisville DSA instrumentally mobilized voters to turn out to defend their rights; their text banking campaign reached over three million Kentuckians. They also received organized support from DSA chapter members in neighboring states including Ohio.
In neither of these campaigns did the vote rejecting the constitutional amendment exceed 60 percent of voters. In the entire history of citizen led ballot initiatives in Ohio, none have ever passed by a supermajority.
In February 2023, Republican anti-abortion legislators attempted to increase the amount of votes needed to pass a citizen led amendment to a supermajority – a plan to make the passing of a popular constitutional amendment historically impossible. The election was to be held on August 8, which the Republican controlled legislature had in April passed legislation making August elections illegal. The move was extremely divisive, even on the right. 80 percent of contributions to Issue 1 came from out of state, including $1.1 million from an Illinois billionaire, and another $900k from the Catholic Church.
Republicans forged ahead with their plan to make the passing of a popular constitutional amendment historically impossible.
By May, the campaign against the Republican counter-offensive was in full swing. DSA chapters all over Ohio were part of the coalition fighting for the constitutional amendment, organizing canvassing and tabling events all over Ohio. The most pressing task for abortion rights volunteers was getting the 400,000 valid signatures to have the constitutional amendment added to the November election.
Columbus and Cincinnati DSA members took what they learned in Louisville and elsewhere to organize our local campaigns. Chapters all over Ohio mobilized, setting up text banks and community outreach to make voters aware of the August 8 special election. Ohio chapters started coming together and supporting each other in a way that hadn’t occurred in the years since the pandemic. DSA National representatives also advised Ohio campaigns to help organizers integrate more ambitious and effective tactics to ensure our success. Many chapters and organizers hadn’t been this active since the Bernie 2020 campaign. Since the coalition was so broad and awareness of the issue was high, it was an opportunity to get involved and talk to working people about socialist policies, and connect this struggle with the broader fight for the freedom and liberation of people’s bodies from being controlled by reactionary state legislatures. Despite the publicity Ohio conservatives had received around their mass misinformation and social sabotage campaign, the material effect and support for the Republican campaign was low.
DSA Deeply Involved in the Campaign
Meanwhile, bodily autonomy activists were building their campaigns utilizing DSA’s national electoral strategy, field operations, high energy, high commitment, and democratic buy-in, while targeting traditionally working class areas. Text banking campaigns carried out by Ohio DSA chapters reached anyone who has ever participated or shown any interest in DSA, as well as hundreds of thousands of Ohioans identified for being reliable progressives. Nearly every medium to large outdoor event in the state was virtually swarming with volunteers doing voter registration, collecting signatures and talking to working people, and DSA chapters frequently mobilized members to help connect the struggle with more socialist feminist messaging.
The movement had gained traction with working voters, while socialists ready to fight for abortion rights from all over the country supported each other with material, time and experience. By late July, over 700,000 signatures estimated to be needed to meet the signature threshold were turned into the office of Secretary of State, and organizers geared up for the last few months of the fight.
When the August 8 vote finally arrived, there was an energy like a presidential race. Ohio voters mobilized en masse, utilizing early voting, absentee and in-person options to cast over 700,000 votes. The Republican initiative was defeated by 57 percent of voters. If the goal was to discourage democracy, the effect was to activate hundreds of thousands of Ohioans to participate in it. Voter turnout had more than quintupled compared to the previous year’s August 8 special election.
Emboldened by the hard-won victory against anti-abortion special interests in August, DSA chapters continued the push to win reproductive rights, took our place in the coalition opposed to rampant political corruption from so-called advocates for life. The Columbus DSA chapter’s Access for All campaign, with input from the Louisville struggle and DSA national organizers, knocked on almost 3500 doors and asked voters to sign pledge cards stating their intention to vote yes on Issue 1.
“I’m genuinely shocked at how positive the response has been. Engagement and buy-in are much higher than expected. People are willing to engage with DSA, not just because we have the most popular program, but our strategy is very targeted around working class neighborhoods with a high density of DSA members. This has to be our turf, these have to be the people who know us and believe in us,” says Columbus DSA steward for the Access for All abortion rights campaign, Evan D. DSA chapters from all over Ohio trade information and work together to maximize impact.
DSA chapters from all over Ohio trade information and work together to maximize impact.
Republican cheap tricks continued to create obstacles and confusion around the issue when anti-choice extremists on the Ohio Ballot Board rejected the language for the amendment submitted by the people in another cheap trick to derail democracy through disinformation and confusion.
57 Percent for Abortion Rights
On November 8, 2023, over 3.8 million Ohioans went to the polls to vote on issue 1. Fortunately, we have cause for celebration as the amendment passed with 56.6 percent of voters choosing their rights over the twisted will of the political class. Activists and volunteers congratulated each other on their hard work carried out over the last year and a half, and millions of Ohioans breathed a collective sigh of relief as this amendment is a clear step forward for the right to access necessary medical treatments. Progressives across the country joined us in celebration of democracy and hope. Disaffected and politically alienated workers watched these events unfold, demonstrating the power of collective action in the fight for democracy, and many people who rarely or never vote came out in support. Conservative donors will surely think twice before funding more attacks on abortion rights: Issue 1 raised nearly $40 million to opponent’s $26 million, $14.7 million of which was blown on the failed illegal August election.
But the fight isn’t over yet. Ohio Republicans, despite giving lip service to the results of the election, have shown time and time again that they don’t believe the laws and constitution apply to them. The same criminal theocratic extremist politicians who passed trigger legislation a few years before the repeal of Roe v. Wade, are drafting and approving the language for anti-trans legislation in Ohio, and the struggle for medical access will surely intensify.
Our successes show us two things: First, we – the socialist movement – have to contribute to building the movement of working-class people to defend bodily autonomy. The Democratic Party leadership might be interested in fundraising on this issue and driving up voter turnout. However, they do not use their power to build a real movement, bottom up. And that’s no accident.
Second, we can build the backbone of such a movement through offering a much broader, socialist vision to change society, build working-class power and win people to join DSA.
Luke Branagan
Luke was a delegate to DSA’s 2023 National convention, serves as labor steward for Columbus DSA and is one of the co-organizers of the Columbus, Ohio, branch of Reform & Revolution.
