You have to give Ohio Republicans credit for at least trying to think out of the box re:  banning abortion via the state’s constitution. There were myriad non-partisan ways to advocate for raising the bar for changing the state constitution, like comparing the state process to the one needed to change the U.S. Constitution.

But that’s not how the GOP works. Either they get caught erasing stuff from their websites because they think the rest of us are stupid, or they feel compelled to insert their odious opinions about abortion into everything, even if it means shooting themselves in the foot:

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose now says his support of a plan to make it harder to change the state constitution is about fending off an abortion rights amendment.

LaRose has repeatedly said he wants voters to raise the threshold for future constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60% to make it harder for special interests to put things into Ohio’s constitution. At a Seneca County Lincoln Day dinner recently, he was more specific.

“This is 100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution. The left wants to jam it in there this coming November,” LaRose said.

And of course then it became about parents’ rights and trans kids:

Amy Natoce is press secretary for Protect Women Ohio, the coalition of abortion foes behind the campaign. She said the ad makes the point that the amendment is “extreme” and takes away parents’ rights.

“It’s setting a dangerous precedent of allowing minors or children to obtain abortions, sex change surgeries without parental consent or even parental notification,” Natoce said.

The amendment doesn’t address parents’ rights in the case of abortions or gender reassignment surgery. But opponents said it doesn’t specifically rule those things out either.

You might think that since this measure went down to resounding defeat with extremely high (relative) turnout, and a larger-than-normal vote from women the GOP would learn from Ohio and just realize that abortion is ALWAYS on the menu at every election until the right to body autonomy and women’s healthcare is codified, and picking fights with women is a losing proposition.

Katy’s got it from here: