Most Americans believe abortion should be legal, at least in most circumstances, but it's still a flashpoint issue in JD Vance's home state

Abortion is a flashpoint in the upcoming American election, even as polls in the U.S. show most people support reproductive freedom. Abortion rights advocates tell CTV News that when candidates take a stance on that, it could influence a decision at the polling station– especially for women on who they want elected.

As CTV National News continues our series of “Omar on the Road: America Decides 2024,” our chief anchor and senior editor and team met with Bethany Lewis in Cleveland, Ohio. Lewis is a social worker who started a new role in February as the executive director of Preterm, a medical clinic that offers abortion care. Since it opened in 1974, the non-profit agency has offered subsidized abortion access to women in Ohio.

The day we visited, there were three men protesting outside with large signs.

Immediately inside the building sat a security guard and all visitors entered through a metal detector. Staff inside said the presence of protestors outside on public property is perennial but varies in numbers.

The following is an excerpt of an interview with Lewis that tells the story of abortion access in Senator JD Vance’s home state. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What has it like doing this work in J.D. Vance's home state?

Lewis: I think what really was amazing about the constitutional amendment was that it showed Ohioans that they are overwhelmingly in favor of abortion, access of reproductive health and reproductive freedom. And that shows that, regardless of what any politician may say in our community or presumably on behalf of us, the power of the people has really come through in the voice of the people, in the will of the people, has really come through to show this reproductive freedom amendment, to show that that is what people in Ohio support. And we are so grateful for that support from them.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In November 2023, Ohioans voters supported an amendment to the state’s constitution to ensure the right to abortion. The public support resulted in rights groups challenging laws that had limited access.

Bethany Lewis, the executive director of Preterm, a medical clinic that offers abortion care, speaks with Chief Anchor and Senior Editor CTV National News Omar Sachedina in Cleveland, Ohio.

Q: In fact, most Americans support reproductive rights to some extent. So why is it such a flashpoint in the election?

Lewis: That's a great question. I think that most Americans do support that. But I do think that there has been so much stigma for so long that people have really supported it privately. And it's only been recently that people have come out in droves and started to support it publicly and had avenues in which they could do that. I think politics are taking a long time to catch up with the will of the people in this case.

Ohioans have made it clear that they want this constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights and freedoms. And so now, the courts are starting to move more quickly through, and we just saw a permanent injunction – a permanent block of the six-week ban that had been on the books.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The ban refers to a law that previously made abortion illegal at the six weeks gestational age, which was widely considered extremely soon after a woman's first missed period. It has since been overturned.

Q: We were talking to somebody else who was saying it's less restrictive to get an abortion now in Ohio than even before Roe versus Wade was struck down. Is that accurate?

Lewis: I would say that's a complicated question. Before, patients would need to come in and have an ultrasound done and then wait 24 hours before they could get their next appointment. But in reality, people schedules are more complicated than that. Right? So, maybe you only have the ability to come in on a Tuesday. You’d have to wait another whole week until the next Tuesday so that you can have child care or you can have the funding that you need in order to get that service. And so, people were waiting longer. And when you have to wait longer, will abortion care costs increase? Complications increase as you go up in gestational age. That adds complications. Now, with the 24-hour ban having the injunction, patients are able to get access to care many times on the same day of their initial consultation appointments.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The 24-hour ban referred to a law that required women wait an additional 24-hours until they could obtain an abortion. It has also been overturned.

Q: how many people from out of state are coming to Ohio to get abortions? How far are they traveling?

Lewis: I just looked at our statistics from last month. In September, we saw people from Texas, from Tennessee, from Pennsylvania and neighboring states as well. But we know that we're seeing people regularly from Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, any state that has a ban. … Cleveland is a city that is not as expensive to fly to as maybe New York or Chicago. If you have to stay overnight in a hotel or anything like that, those costs can be a lot cheaper.

Chief Anchor and Senior Editor CTV National News Omar Sachedina listens to Bethany Lewis, the executive director of Preterm, a medical clinic that offers abortion care, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Q: So in a nutshell, what makes what makes Ohio unique? I mean, it doesn't sound like it's the most restrictive, but it doesn't sound like it's the least restrictive state either.

Lewis: Right now, we're in this position where we are testing the waters for everyone else that is working on ballot initiatives. We have this legislation that is very hostile to the state legislation that is hostile towards abortion care and people who are seeking abortion care. Yet we have this constitutional amendment that is supporting that. We are really a test ground for other states to watch and see how we got our amendment through, how are we responding going forward with the court cases that we are pursuing … just to be able to give hope for people as well while they're going through their own challenges within their states.

Q: How significant of an issue do you think this is, particularly for young women in this election?

Lewis: I think this is a significant, significant issue. … Just because we have a constitutional amendment, it depends on how the Ohio Supreme Court interprets that constitutional amendment. And then in addition to that, we know that on a federal level, if we have an administration that is not supportive of abortion rights, then there are a number of things that could happen federally that could pose a risk even to Ohio. … This puts everyone, no matter what state and no matter what their protections are, no matter what it says in their state constitution, at a risk for having reproductive rights and reproductive freedoms going forward.