Notes from Project 50
Yesterday’s election outcome in Ohio was another important victory for reproductive rights. There is already quite a bit of media coverage regarding the role abortion access played in yesterday’s elections. Please see our brief insights and observations below, which may not be on your radar.
But first, I and everyone at Project 50 want to thank you for the pivotal roles you have played and are playing in the fight to protect access to abortion and all reproductive healthcare. Your leadership in elevating this issue through conversations with others and and through your generous contributions is propelling this mission, Project 50, and our state partners. We welcome your continued support and, if you are so inclined on this good news day, you can donate here.
OHIO - As you know, the Ohio ballot measure to protect abortion access in the state constitution passed resoundingly with a margin of nearly 14% (57% yes / 43% no). A few interesting side notes:
- The measure protects much more than abortion. The actual ballot language reads that the amendment will:
- “Establish in the Constitution of the State of Ohio an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion.”
- Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, the group that created the initiative, intended for the amendment to establish that:
- “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”
- Ohio organizers debated whether to run the ballot measure now, in 2023, or to wait until the 2024 General Election. Based on last night’s results, it appears that putting this question on the ballot in an off-year, without all the competing noise of presidential, congressional and state races, may have been smart - voters were laser focused on the question at the top of the ticket.
VIRGINIA - As Project 50 wrote in a prior newsletter about the 2023 elections in Virginia, control of the state legislature was in play and extremely consequential for abortion rights. If abortion opponents seized control of both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate, Governor Youngkin would have been able to reduce access and ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. To be clear, Governor Youngkin hasn’t said he would stop there or oppose further reduction in access. This was just his first step.
In a significant win for those seeking and fighting for abortion healthcare across the South, reproductive rights supporters held on to the State Senate and flipped the House of Delegates.
Project 50 was proud to spotlight the crucial work of Repro Rising, the Virginia reproductive rights PAC, and we congratulate and thank them for their incredible effort and work to achieve this important victory.
In our newsletter regarding the Virginia state house elections, we highlighted three Senate races and four House of Delegate races that would play a role in control of each chamber.
- In the State Senate, two of the three reproductive rights-supporting candidates won.
- In the House of Delegates, two of the four reproductive rights supporters won. It is worth noting that the two victors - Josh Thomas (Dist 21) and Rodney Willett (Dist 58) specifically prioritized their support of reproductive rights in their campaign communications.
PENNSYLVANIA - There was another election yesterday which didn’t receive as much media coverage but was still important: the election of abortion rights-supporting judge Dan McCaffery to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Conservative extremists framed this race as the last best opportunity to make the court more friendly to conservative causes, including opposition to abortion and in the event of a close 2024 presidential election, support for overturning a free and fair election. With Judge McCaffery’s election, the court retains a 5-2 majority in favor of reproductive rights.
We hope these notes are informative and continue to energize your activism. There is a lot of work ahead in 2024, and we are grateful for your partnership. Again, if you’d like to support Project 50’s work to grow the impact of the state organizations that are battling for reproductive rights across the country, you can donate here.
Thank you!
Bryan Howard
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