Pro-Lifers’ Work in Ohio Is Just Beginning

‘A bortion is health care! Abortion is a right!”

Three male pro-abortion-until-birth twentysomethings screamed these words at the top of their lungs as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the Stokes Federal Courthouse in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, June 24, 2022. Hours earlier, the Supreme Court had announced its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case: At long last, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were overturned, returning abortion policy to the states. As expected, city, county and township pro-life organizations across the state of Ohio kicked into gear to celebrate this historical moment with jubilation.

A few yards away from the noisy protesters, local-news teams stood behind recently erected security barriers as they covered the press conference called by Cleveland Right to Life (of which I am president). Local pro-life leaders were there to express their elation about the Dobbs decision. This was, after all, something pro-life champions had been working toward for the past 49 years. Despite the inane chants of the leftist disrupters, the Supreme Court held that abortion is not a constitutional right. As we at Cleveland Right to Life made clear during the press conference, abortion was never constitutional, and abortion is not health care: not for the woman and most certainly not for the child in the womb.

Ohio moved almost immediately to protect life once the Dobbs decision was released. It was prepared. Weeks before the Dobbs announcement, during a meeting with members of the Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio (RTLACO), Ohio attorney general Dave Yost made a promise to RTLACO, the largest grassroots pro-life organization in Ohio. He pledged that, as soon as the Dobbs decision was handed down, he would file a motion to dissolve the federal injunction against Ohio’s “Heartbeat Bill.” The injunction, in place since 2019, halted the enactment of a law passed by the Ohio legislature and signed by the governor that bans abortions after the first fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur anywhere from four to six weeks, typically before a woman knows she is pregnant. True to his word, AG Yost did exactly that within minutes of the Dobbs decision. The injunction was lifted hours later by a federal judge. Ohio governor Mike DeWine then signed an emergency executive order at 10:52 p.m. on June 24 enforcing the law. Officially known as the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act, it is now in effect.

So what’s next for the pro-life movement in Ohio? The first priority is to ensure that the law is enforced, according to Margie Christie, president of RTLACO. Christie says the coalition will focus on this and on assisting lawmakers in their legislative efforts to discourage medical professionals from aborting a child in the womb who has a heartbeat. Such abortions now violate Ohio law.

Sadly, abortion advocates are already threatening to do just that. Within days of the Heartbeat Law taking effect, Ohio city prosecutors in blue cities such as Columbus and Cincinnati announced that they would not prosecute doctors who performed abortions in violation of the law. Fortunately, Ohio state senator Jerry Cirino, who is also chairman of Cleveland Right to Life, is currently working with the chairman of the senate health committee to shore up enforcement that will ensure rogue prosecutors’ compliance with Ohio’s Heartbeat Law. Cirino pointed out that, while prosecutors do have some discretion, this does not allow them to flout a law that is duly passed and is now part of the Ohio Revised Code. Failure to comply with the law is a felony. City prosecutors, moreover, do not have the legal authority to prosecute (or not to prosecute) felonies: Only county prosecutors have that right. While the Cuyahoga County prosecutor also announced that he would not prosecute an abortionist who violates the Heartbeat Law, that responsibility lies with the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Medical Board, which have the right to rescind the physicians’ licenses.

But abortion mills and their allies will continue to fight hard in the courts to continue to abort children, despite laws that now effectively ban such practices. Predictably, these organizations (with help from the ACLU) filed a lawsuit on June 29 in the Ohio supreme court demanding the Court block the Heartbeat Law. AG Yost, however, was unimpressed. “Races don’t start at the finish line, and lawsuits don’t start in the final court,” he said in a statement about the pro-abortion lawsuit. “Aside from filing the wrong action in the wrong court, they are wrong as well on Ohio law. Abortion is not in the Ohio Constitution.” Aaron Baer, president of the Columbus-based Center for Christian Virtue, agrees. “The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are trying to create an abortion mandate in the Ohio Constitution out of thin air,” he said. “To suggest our state Constitution enables abortion clinics to destroy unborn life is foolish and dangerous.” The Ohio Supreme Court denied the motion on July 1.

As important as enforcement is, however, there is much more to be done, especially when it comes to upholding a culture of life throughout the state. Margie Christie noted that her organization “will support and develop programs that respect life and teach about its value at all stages” and “will work with our legislature to develop legislation that encapsulates life-affirming and life-protecting policies,” including “not only a personhood bill and law, but ensure all legislation reflects a culture of life for our state. “

Kate Makra, executive director of Cleveland Right to Life and a district vice president of the RTLACO, considers the Heartbeat Law “a great start,” but stresses that “we need to do more” by emphasizing not just enforcement but also education. There is a particular need, in her view, to educate the public about the options available to a woman who finds herself in a crisis pregnancy. The pro-life community has asserted for years that many women resort to abortions because they do not realize they have choices. “There is help out there,” Makra said. “There are approximately 200 pregnancy resource centers in Ohio who are ready, willing, and able to compassionately assist women in crisis pregnancies.”

Additionally, we must promote adoption as a real option. One of the provisions of the Heartbeat Law is the creation of a Joint Legislative Committee on Adoption Promotion and Support. We will ensure that this becomes a reality.

Finally, voices for life in Ohio must make the most of this opportunity to support women. Ed Sitter, executive director of Toledo Right to Life, sees a post–Roe v. Wade Ohio as an opportunity for the pro-life movement in the state to continue to support and empower women to carry their babies to term. “Even before Roe, Ohioans led the nation in the fight for Life. With leaders like Dr. Willke, President of Ohio and National RTL and Heartbeat co-founder Dr. John Hillabrand, it is time Ohio Leads the Nation again by outlawing abortion and ensuring its enforcement,” Sitter wrote. “Now is not the time for timid or half measures legislatively; the pro-life community in Ohio must unite to pass strong pro-life protections.”

The RTLACO has always emphasized the need for all pro-life organizations to work together by encouraging a good working relationship with pregnancy centers to support pregnant women. Additionally, many RTL organizations provide their own financial and material assistance to families in need. This will continue.

Ohio will continue to strengthen, expand, and then ensure enforcement of laws that protect both the mother and the child in the womb. Doctors who flout these laws will not be tolerated in Ohio. In the meantime, Ohio pro-lifers must continue to be vigilant and to stand guard for the protection of all human life from pre-birth to natural death because we know that evil never sleeps.