Dan Kobil is a professor of constitutional law at Capital University Law School in Columbus.
Last year, when a substantial majority voted to amend Ohio’s constitution to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade, many believed that the issue of reproductive freedom was settled in our state.
Think again.
This year’s presidential race, as well as the Senate race between Sherrod Brown and Bernie Moreno, could well determine whether Ohio can continue to protect the ability of women to obtain abortions prior to viability. That is because under the Constitution, federal laws override all contrary state rules — even those enshrined in state constitutions. This means that federal restrictions on abortion could eliminate the reproductive rights that Ohio guaranteed to its citizens in 2023.
And a federal law that could stop virtually all abortions nationally is already on the books: the Comstock Act. Passed in 1873 , this federal law bans the mailing or shipping of “every obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance.”