Politics Nov 8, 2023 10:38 PM EST

In the third GOP presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy’s claim that Ohio’s new abortion amendment “effectively codifies abortion all the way up until the moment of birth without parental consent” needs context.

The language Ohioans voted for in Tuesday’s election doesn’t change Ohio’s existing parental notification and consent law, which requires minors to have parental permission — or a judicial exception in extreme cases — to get an abortion.

To be overturned, that law would have to be challenged in court and struck down by the state Supreme Court, whose conservative majority would likely vote to protect it.

Medical experts also dispute the idea of abortions “until the moment of birth” that Ramaswamy and other candidates on stage are using. Terminations later in pregnancy — which are exceedingly rare — involve medication that induces birth early, which is different from a surgical abortion.