Stop back here often; this is a dynamic issue and information changes regularly!
What it is:
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at the federal level and returned the decision authority for regulating/allowing abortions or disallowing abortions/protecting the unborn babies to the states, the abortion industry along with radical left political organizations have started an initiative to enshrine the “right to an abortion” in the Ohio constitution by crafting a proposed constitutional amendment to be voted on in the November 2023 election.
Issues/Why the amendment is wrong and needs to be defeated:
- Abortions will be made legal for entire 9 month term of pregnancy
- amendment language is intentionally made vague or open to interpretation so any reason, however weak can be used to justify an abortion
- Abortion language is buried in or included with other non-lethal or non-controversial language or procedures in order to make the (real) desire for abortion “right” less prominent
- Funding for advocacy for the abortion initiative is largely from out of state organizations and donors; the real right for Ohioans to determine their own political/religious destiny is being undermined
- As in the days of Roe v. Wade, the abortion amendment language makes the entire issue focus on the “individual” i.e. pregnant mother’s “right” to have the abortion and completely ignores the baby’s real right to be protected and born and loved.
One way to understand how deceptive the amendment language is was constructed by the Created Equal organization with this Red Pen Flyer document: link here.
Our friends with the Greater Columbus Right to Life organization have also put together this detailed analysis of the proposed amendment and identified numerous legal issues or implied rights/permissions included in the language. If you want to understand what is really intended or will be approved with this amendment, you want to read this!!
Process and schedule:
Objective 1: Pass a resolution in the Ohio General Assembly such that a 60% majority vote is needed to amend the OH state constitution.
- Up to May 10 – OH General Assembly has the opportunity to authorize a special ballot vote whether Constitution amendment vote in November needs “50% +1” majority or “60%” majority to pass. This special ballot initiative is HJR-1 in the Ohio House and SJR-2 in the Ohio Senate.
- The higher threshold will decrease the possibility of the amendment being approved!
- August – possible special election to revise amendment approval threshold from “50% + 1” to “60%”
Objective 2: Prevent the proposed constitutional amendment language from coming to a vote, or if it is voted on, to soundly defeat the issue as bad policy for Ohio!
- July 5 – Pro-abortion supporters of the amendment need to have collected approximately 410,000 signatures to have amendment vote included on the November 2023 ballot.
- November – general election including issue of possible pro-abortion constitution amendment.
Update on Objective 1:
On May 10 the Ohio General Assembly passed the Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR-2), the Constitution Protection Resolution which authorizes a special election on Tuesday, August 8, to raise the approval threshold needed to amend the Ohio state constitution to 60% of the vote. This is an important victory in the battle to keep Ohio pro-life!
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Mark your calendars as a reminder to vote on August 8 or to submit an absentee ballot to approve this resolution to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments to 60%. Notify your friends and neighbors and members of your church of the upcoming special election and encourage them to vote also! Watch this site for any details or updates on the special election.
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What you can do:
- Pray!!! In thanksgiving for Ohio legislators passing the SJR-2 Constitution Protection Resolution, and for a successful passage of the resolution in the August 8 special election!
- Donate to an organization that is working to defeat the initiative. Any of the organizations linked on this page would be appreciative and would put your donation to work fighting this terrible amendment.
- Sign for a mailing list to get latest information about the issue and ways you can help. Again, any organization on this page will keep you informed of the latest developments and activities you can support.
- Talk to your family and friends about the initiative; let them know the issues and deceptive language that’s included in the proposal; point them to sources of information with the pro-life perspective (see additional selections below)
- Host a speaker at your church or other organization to spread pro-life message further. For some help finding a speaker, click here. Or for a list of Town Hall meetings around the state to get latest information and ask questions, look here.
Some links to web sites with helpful pro-life information:
- Flyer from the Protect Women Ohio organization breaking down the amendment text: link here.
- Guide to upcoming ballot initiative: click here
- Created Equal’s Volunteer Portal identifies opportunities to inform those considering signing petition to put the extreme abortion amendment on the November ballot: click here
- Carrie Campbell Severino’s and Frank Scaturro’s National Review article analyzing the proposed amendment: click here