Staggering Ohio loss ignites an identity crisis within the anti-abortion movement

Key Facts

“We have to take seriously the fact that the abortion lobby is willing to really invest in these campaigns,” said Kristi Hamrick, the chief policy strategist with Students for Life, which was part a group that sent about 80 staff and volunteers knocking on doors and texting voters ahead of Tuesday’s election.
“We think there’s a lot of people that, when we start telling the story of how extreme the abortion referendum is, will be jumping over to our side,” said Aaron Baer, the president of the Center for Christian Virtue, and a board member with Protect Women Ohio, the coalition working to defeat the November initiative.
Schilling said he was also disappointed in GOP presidential candidates and national party leaders for a lack of attention on the race — echoing criticisms aimed at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell following a similar referendum defeat in his home state last November.
Yet Students for Life, which plans to tour dozens of Ohio colleges leading up to the fall vote and hold voter registration and get-out-the-vote events, is among groups arguing that a 15-week ban would still allow more than 90 percent of abortions to take place, and advocating for at least a six-week ban on the procedure.