Voters to decide on two major changes to Ohio law

by Maxwell Lowe

Video editor

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

In the state of Ohio, citizens eighteen years of age or older have the opportunity to vote on Nov. 7. This is not any ordinary election though, as Ohioians will be voting on Issues 1 and 2 which both have the possibility to change the future of Ohio drastically.

Issue 1 is “the right to make reproductive decisions including abortion initiative,” according to 10TV, meaning if passed, the state would allow abortions at any stage of pregnancy. This is in contrast to the state's current law, which strictly outlaws abortion in the state of Ohio “at 20 weeks,” says Mrs. Rich, an AP Government teacher at Bradley.

Reproductive rights were first federally protected in the ruling of Roe vs. Wade, where at a federal level abortions were strictly protected for almost 50 years. This protection was overruled in the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The overturning means states have the choice, separate from the federal government, to vote on allowing abortion in their state or not, no longer federally protecting it.

If passed in Ohio, “no law could be created by our legislature to restrict abortion past the point in the amendment” in the past Ohio has been a swing state never really been Republican or Democrat, according to Rich. But “Ohio has been seen, more recently as a conservative state, but other conservative states like Kentucky adding this right to their constitution, so the question is are we going to follow what Kentucky did or are we going to be more conservative the way that we look like we are. Ohio tends to be a good predictor as to how things will go for the nation,” says Mrs. Rich.

Issue 2 is “the marijuana legalization initiative,” according to 10TV, giving Ohioans the opportunity to legalize marijuana for recreational use, if passed. Where currently the state only allows the use of marijuana for medical use. This proves the fact that states are gaining power through this bill with “38 states legalizing marijuana with 23 of those states for recreational use and the others for medical purposes,” says Mr. Del Boccio, a Government teacher at Bradley. There is no question about an uptick in state laws being passed that are contrary to federal law. “Technically it is still federally illegal… [but] the federal government is not enforcing the law anyway,” Rich adds.

Del Boccio commented further on Issue 2: “When Colorado [legalized marijuana for] recreational use, there were a lot of issues that popped up that they didn’t take into consideration,” like smoke getting into the vents of people who didn’t want it. “The bottom line is it’s still under federal law and they could shut it down if they want, [but] they said they weren’t going to.” MJ Snyder (12) adds, “[legalizing marijuana] is a huge step to making other things that maybe the federal government doesn’t want to be nationally legal, but legal on a statewide level… easier for sure.”

Voting is the basis of democracy. Everyone deserves to be heard. Don’t forget to vote on Nov. 7 at your local polling location. For more information on polling locations, visit the Franklin County Board of Elections website.