When I made a trip to Ohio, my home state, in fall 2023, I was worried. In just a few weeks’ time, Ohioans would vote on a referendum, approval of which would enshrine a right to abortion in the state’s constitution. The courageous pro-life activists I spoke to then expressed hope that Ohio could be the first state to defy the ominous trend, up to that point, of victory for every pro-abortion ballot measure on the state level. They held this hope despite working at a considerable disadvantage in resources and attention versus the pro-abortion side, which was also actively deceiving voters about what approving the abortion amendment would mean.

Unfortunately, Ohio did not end up an outlier in that fall’s vote. The state’s notoriously amendment-prone constitution now contains a right to abortion. Last fall, I returned to Ohio once again for the state’s March for Life (a new, post-Dobbs event). For an article in the latest issue of the magazine, I talked to pro-lifers, including some of the same activists I had interviewed in 2023, about the prospects for their cause after the vote. They reflected on why the vote went the way it did (they thought messaging problems were the main factor), what’s happening with abortion in the state now (the amendment is being used as a “battering ram” against Ohio’s existing protections for the unborn), and what they can do in the future (work over the long term to change hearts and minds).

Pro-lifers in Ohio do still have political goals in the present. Committed politicians are continuing to advance legislation that would promote a culture of life and strengthen families. Just this past fall, partisan supreme court elections resulted in a 6–1 Republican split on the state’s highest court. Ohio’s remaining pro-life protections are currently being litigated; their fate will likely end up determined there. And given that Attorney General Dave Yost, now running for governor, is representing the state in these cases, abortion will be an issue in that race. Abortion isn’t going away as an issue in Ohio. And neither are the state’s pro-lifers.