WASHINGTON – A vote to raise the threshold to change the Ohio state constitution from a simple majority vote to a vote of 60% failed to pass.

“Changing the Ohio constitution should require a higher vote threshold than a simple majority,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Sadly, voters rejected raising the threshold and opened the door to outside interest groups coming into Ohio and promoting their dubious values.”

Groups in support of Issue 1 were outspent nearly 3 to 1 and largely by interest groups outside of the state of Ohio. Of the top 30 donors and donor organizations opposed to Issue 1, all but four were from outside the state of Ohio. The greatest funding came from organizations and donors in Washington, D.C. and in California.

“Pro-abortion interest groups were among those who opposed Issue 1. They want to promote unlimited abortion in Ohio and want to change the Ohio constitution based on their sordid pro-abortion values,” said Tobias.

Tobias continued, “They also want to ensure that Ohio’s minor daughters can have abortions without their parents’ knowledge.”

An upcoming ballot initiative in November, if successful, would change the state’s constitution and enshrine unlimited abortion as part of the constitution in Ohio.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.