Ohio’s defeat is another hard lesson for pro-lifers and constitutional reformers

On Tuesday, Ohio voters decisively rejected a proposal to make amending its state constitution harder. Issue 1 sought to require a 60% threshold for changing Ohio’s constitution rather than the current rules mandating only a majority vote.

I noted the problem with these efforts months ago in the pages of this publication . The immediate problem continues to be the timing of the effort. This fall, Ohio voters will consider another amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in that state’s fundamental law. Many voters saw Issue 1 as an attempt to stack the deck against that upcoming vote. And most supporters of the proposal clearly wished that outcome as a response to losing efforts in other state votes on the issue of abortion.