Where Trump counties in Ohio voted to support abortion rights

Ohio’s abortion rights referendum drew support from both liberal and conservative parts of the state, winning outright in 18 counties that President Donald J. Trump won in 2020, signaling that the issue remains a weakness for Republicans.

These 18 counties, a mix of urban, suburban and rural communities, joined the seven mostly urban counties that won Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020. voted for one constitutional amendment to protect “reproductive decisions,” including abortions.

Across the state, the margin of support for abortion rights was larger than the margin of support for Biden three years ago. Among Trump counties that voted for the amendment, the vote for abortion rights was stronger, where Trump won by smaller margins.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year, Americans who vote on abortion via ballot measures have chosen to support abortion rights every time, even in red states.

Ohio joins California, Michigan and Vermont, which amended their constitutions to protect abortion rights in the midterm elections. But Ohio is the first Republican-led state where voters have chosen to enshrine the right in their constitution, despite the governor and many lawmakers who have worked for months to thwart the effort.

In three other red states — Kansas, Kentucky and Montana — voters last year rejected ballot measures intended to restrict access to abortion.

In these seven states, Biden counties have overwhelmingly and unsurprisingly voted in favor of abortion rights, while most Trump counties have not. But voters in dozens of counties that Trump won have tipped the balance in each of these elections, giving abortion rights advocates increasing hope that ballot measures are a winning strategy to protect abortion access.

Maryland and New York will put proposals to advance abortion rights on their ballots in November 2024, and advocates in at least seven other states, including Arizona and Florida, are working on similar measures. Anti-abortion advocates in Iowa and Pennsylvania are working on proposals that would declare there is no constitutional right to abortion.

Ohio’s constitutional protection of abortion is expected to invalidate a pending ban on the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, preserving access in the state for residents, as well as those traveling from the Midwestern and Western states South where abortion is prohibited.