A resounding victory for abortion rights

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     August 9, 2023 On paper, Tuesday's special election in Ohio had nothing to do with abortion. But voters in the state clearly saw past the intentional blandness of "Issue 1" and ultimately rejected the real dynamics animating the Republican-driven proposal: an [explosive effort to end direct democracy]( in the state—and block abortion rights. As my colleagues Ari Berman and Madison Pauly wrote in this [great analysis of the results](, what happened in Ohio last night is a potent reminder that voters—led by hyper-mobilized Democrats and women—are casting ballots around the country to shore up reproductive rights after the overturning of Roe. The result, in effect political retribution, has been nothing short of an earthquake, even in solidly red states like Ohio: Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, voters have chosen the pro-choice position in [every single abortion-related]( referendum that’s appeared on a state ballot. This trend has held true not just in blue states like California and Vermont, but also in deep-red [Kansas]( and Kentucky, where voters last year rejected proposals to put no-right-to-abortion clauses in their state constitutions. In Michigan, another Midwestern battleground state, 57 percent of voters approved a ballot initiative with near-identical language to that on the table in Ohio. That's nothing short of extraordinary, and I think that's especially true considering how much fatigue exists for just about everything else: Donald Trump, indictments, 2024. But as so many elections have since shown post-Dobbs, the fight for abortion rights is refusing to die down. So, will Republicans change tack before the next presidential election? Considering the extreme anti-abortion stances of just about everyone in the GOP field, my guess is a resounding, nah. —Inae Oh P.S. We made an error in yesterday's newsletter by writing that Donald Trump won in 2020. It turns out we were another victim of "Trump-Induced Time Dilation," a phenomenon our former colleague Dave Gilson once [coined to describe]( "the 45th president’s ability to alter temporal perceptions; more specifically, his unnatural knack for making time slow to an excruciating crawl." Which is to say, we obviously meant to write 2016, not 2020. Apologies for the error! Advertisement [IPAS Promo Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Direct Democracy—and Abortion Rights—Win in Ohio]( Ahead of an abortion-rights referendum in November, Ohio voters declined to raise the bar for amending their state constitution. BY MADISON PAULY AND ARI BERMAN SPONSORED POST     [Sponsored Content]( [How Can We Protect Reproductive Freedom in the United States?]( Since the repeal of Roe, 14 states now ban most abortions. THIS CONTENT WAS PAID FOR AND SPONSORED BY [IPAS](. [Trending] [The US nuked Nagasaki 78 years ago today. "Oppenheimer" barely mentions it.]( BY GREG MITCHELL   [LIV Golf is fun, actually]( BY ALI BRELAND   [Biden just made land around the Grand Canyon a national monument—blocking new uranium mining there]( BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN   [How masculinity gurus cash in on the boy crisis]( BY EAMON WHALEN Advertisement [IPAS Promo Ad]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [How one museum is nurturing Japan’s most beloved insect]( The Genji firefly's survival, however, will require the restoration of wild habitat. BY SHOSHI PARKS [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755