While wealthy out-of-state groups are working to enshrine a proposed abortion amendment in our constitution, they do not represent the vast majority of Ohioans.
While wealthy out-of-state groups are working to enshrine a proposed abortion amendment in our constitution, they do not represent the vast majority of Ohioans.
A proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion up to birth in Ohio is one step closer to appearing on the November 2023 general-election ballot. On March 2, Ohio attorney general Dave Yost deemed that the language in the petition — which was filed by a group of radical pro-abortion advocates that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio — is “fair and truthful.”
Then on Monday, the Ohio Ballot Board certified that the ballot language in the proposal from Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom contained only one proposal. Now, having cleared the last requirement, the abortion cabal will have until July 5 to collect and submit approximately 413,000 registered Ohio voters’ signatures to put the issue before voters in November.
If this amendment, filled with dangerous language, is passed, it would make Ohio the home of one of the most extreme abortion regimes in the country. It would enshrine radical abortion policy in our state constitution and bring taxpayer-funded abortions anytime during pregnancy — yes, all nine months.
But, tragically, the dangers of the amendment do not end there. Despite its fraudulent title, “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” the amendment does absolutely nothing to protect women and girls. Instead, it abolishes existing health and safety protections for women and girls — such as our current state law requiring abortionists to have hospital-admitting privileges or to be up to the same code as other outpatient surgical centers in case something goes wrong.
Shockingly, under this amendment, a minor daughter could undergo an abortion without her parents’ consent or even their knowledge.
As it stands in Ohio now, girls under age 18 must obtain permission from a parent or legal guardian before undergoing an abortion. This ensures that parents are aware of and involved in the most consequential health-care decisions related to their children. The proposed amendment would eradicate this fundamental right of parents to know and consent to an abortion performed on their underage daughter.
The amendment language does this by clearly forbidding any law that “directly or indirectly” would “burden” or “interfere” with any “reproductive decisions.” Those specific legal terms have been interpreted by courts across the country to strike down virtually every law, including parental-notification and parental-consent laws and women’s health and safety protections — not to mention laws preventing taxpayer dollars from paying for abortions.
Furthermore, the amendment language explicitly protects any third party who “assists” in an abortion. If an older boyfriend or coach takes an adolescent girl for an abortion without parental knowledge, neither she nor her parents would have any legal recourse.
Although the amendment says that protections for the unborn after viability are permitted, its wording specifies that it is the abortionist — that is, the one profiting from abortion — who decides whether the child is viable.
And even if a preborn child is deemed viable, the amendment contains a massive loophole for post-viability abortions: whether an abortionist deems that an abortion “is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.” “Health” is specifically left undefined because courts have consistently interpreted it to include mental, financial, and social health, making it effectively impossible to enforce any protections at any time during a pregnancy.
The reality is that most Ohioans — and most Americans, for that matter — believe preborn children should be protected well before viability. At six weeks, a child has developed a beating heart; at 15 weeks, she can feel pain, respond to touch, and wiggle her tiny fingers and toes. Her humanity is undeniable, and the majority of Ohioans and Americans support commonsense safeguards for her.
A Harvard-Harris national poll found that 72 percent of voters would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, including 75 percent of women, 70 percent of independents, and 60 percent of rank-and-file Democrats. A Marist poll found that 69 percent of Americans support limiting abortion to, at most, the first three months of pregnancy — this includes 72 percent of women, 71 percent of independents, and nearly half of rank-and-file Democrats.
While wealthy out-of-state groups are working to enshrine this amendment in our constitution, they do not represent the vast majority of Ohioans. The policies they are trying to impose upon us are wildly out of step with our commonsense values.
We look forward to exposing the dangers of this extreme amendment, one that threatens the health and safety of women, girls, and preborn babies. The abortion industry and its supporters are relentlessly trying to mandate taxpayer-funded abortion on demand until birth in Ohio. They are petitioning to rewrite our state constitution to strip all parental rights, protections for preborn babies, and existing health and safety standards designed to safeguard both mother and child. They deserve our protection.
Ohioans care for women and children; we will fight to protect both. We believe the people of Ohio will not be fooled by this vague and deceptive language and will reject this ballot initiative.