At the Ohio March for Life rally in Columbus two years ago, Republican state legislators pledged to abolish abortion in the state. 

And last year, anti-abortion advocates vowed to defeat a pending constitutional amendment adding abortion rights to the state constitution.

The goals from key figures in Ohio’s pro-life movement were much more modest at this year’s version of the event, held at Statehouse lawn on Friday.

From an elevated platform stage, speakers told the crowd of 1,000 they need to play the long game by changing hearts and minds after suffering a crushing defeat in last November’s election, when voters approved the abortion-rights amendment by 13 percentage points.

Several speakers also mentioned  pregnancy crisis centers, facilities that provide services to pregnant women while discouraging them from obtaining abortions. Another topic of discussion was new state data showing 22,000 abortions were performed in Ohio last year, an increase over the previous year that appears to be driven by an influx of out-of-state patients, likely due to abortion restrictions in their home states.

“If we want to make abortion illegal, we have to make it unthinkable,” said Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, an influential conservative evangelical lobbying group in Columbus. 

U.S. Senator JD Vance featured at last year’s rally

Figures in Ohio’s anti-abortion movement are regrouping after last year’s election defeat in Ohio. They’ve been sidelined in national politics after former president Donald Trump pushed to strip support for national abortion restrictions from the Republican Party platform. He also announced support for a medication commonly known as the abortion pill that’s used to perform most abortions in the country. Ahead of the November election, Republicans also have looked to downplay abortion, which has been a losing issue for them. 

Friday’s event also was relatively short on political star power compared to previous iterations. Last year’s event featured multiple statewide elected Republicans, including U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Republican who’s former president Donald Trump’s running mate this year.

But the only elected official to speak this year was state Rep. Josh Williams, a Toledo-area Republican who doesn’t face a tough reelection contest because he represents an uncompetitive district. 

Williams touted legislation, which has yet to advance past an initial perfunctory hearing, that would strip funding from local governments found to have funded organizations that promote or provide abortions. Republican state Attorney General Dave Yost attended the event and participated in the march that followed the rally,  but didn’t play a speaking role.

Echoing speakers, two attendees, Scott and Christie McVicker of Delaware, said their movement needs to grow in size to make a difference in elections. 

“We can’t fight, we can’t be violent, we can’t riot,” Scott McVicker said. “We just need to use our voices and our reason to help people understand that the choice is for life.

But the rally wasn’t completely devoid of practical politics. Baer encouraged attendees to oppose Issue 1, the ballot issue to change Ohio’s system of drawing political maps, and to vote for Justice Joe Deters and Judges Megan Shanahan and Dan Hawkins, the three Republican candidates for Ohio Supreme Court.

Ohio’s Supreme Court could still play role in abortion debate

The court, where Republicans hold a 4-3 majority, likely will play a pivotal role in interpreting the abortion-rights amendment, as various challenges that cite it work their way through the state legal system. Issue 1 could reduce the number of Republicans in the state legislature by requiring the state’s district maps to favor Republican and Democratic candidates to win a share of seats that more closely matches the parties’ share of the statewide vote, and by replacing Republican map-drawing commission of elected officials with a citizen’s commission.  

A statement from Jamie Miracle, deputy director of Abortion Forward, a pro-abortion rights group, also referenced the state supreme court races. Two Democratic justices, Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart are running for reelection, while a third Democratic candidate, Judge Lisa Forbes is running for an open seat.

“One year ago, Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, but there’s much work to be done,” Miracle said. “We must continue to push back on abortion stigma, and we must continue to fight to ensure the Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment is enforced, not ignored.”