Two pro-abortion organizations announced Thursday plans to join forces in their ongoing fight against the constitutional rights of the unborn.
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights plan to collaboratively file a ballot initiative to insert legalized abortion in the Ohio Constitution.
The group called Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom is a group formed by the left-leaning organizations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, and others.
According to Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, everyone should have the choice to end their pregnancy and their baby’s life if they choose.
“The people of Ohio overwhelmingly support abortion access and keeping the government out of our personal lives. This campaign puts the power back in the hands of the people of Ohio, so everyone has the freedom to prevent, continue, or end a pregnancy should they decide,” Lauren Blauvelt from Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom said.
The groups said that the language for the proposed amendment hadn’t been released yet, but would be sent to Attorney General Dave Yost soon to start putting the issue on the ballot by the end of this month.
Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), is working in collaboration with pro-life allies throughout the state, including the Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio, Ohio Right to Life, Ohio Christian Alliance, Created Equal, and others to prepare to fight the upcoming ballot initiative.
“The organizations driving this initiative have a gruesome record of showing little regard for the health and safety of women and unborn children. For decades, they have spent millions of dollars fighting to protect their big business, profiting off of painful late-term abortions. Ohioans cannot be silenced and allow our state Constitution to be manipulated. We must stand up together against these radical liberal groups and their out-of-state funders to protect women and children,” CCV President Aaron Baer said.
According to Baer, Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom’s ballot initiative is destined for failure, just like their 2022 state court lawsuit to create a right to abortion was.
“The ACLU believes it’s okay to take the life of a fully developed child in his or her mother’s womb and Planned Parenthood wants to keep profiting off it. But just like their half-baked lawsuit in state court to create a right to abortion, this ballot initiative is doomed to fail,” Baer said.
Ohio Right to Life’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Range echoed Baer’s sentiment.
“At six weeks, a baby’s heart starts beating; at 15 weeks, he or she can feel pain in the womb. Ohio is a pro-life state, and we believe in the value and beauty of every human life. Any attempt to change Ohio’s Constitution by these large out-of-state abortion groups will ultimately fail here in Ohio. We respect the dignity of both mother and child in the Buckeye State,” Range said.
Baer also urged Ohio lawmakers to move quickly to pass State Representatives Brian Stewart‘s (R-Ashville) and Derek Merrin‘s (R-Monclova) joint resolution to increase the threshold to amend the Constitution to 60 percent.
“We also cannot allow liberal and pro-abortion special interests to attempt to buy their way into Ohio’s Constitution. Every pro-life lawmaker must move quickly to pass Representative Brian Stewart and Leader of House Republicans Derek Merrin’s Joint Resolution to increase the threshold to amend the Constitution to 60 percent,” Baer said.
Last month, Stewart and Merrin, along with over 30 GOP co-sponsors, re-submitted the “Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment,” which aims to require support from at least 60 percent of voters rather than a simple majority to pass future proposed amendments that lawmakers introduced last legislative session.
Although Stewart said that there was ample time to have the “Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment” on the May ballot, it did not pass in the Ohio House and Senate before the February 1st deadline.
Lawmakers now face an August 9th deadline to get the proposal before voters in November.
For Stewart to get his resolution on the November ballot, three-fifths of the members in both chambers have to approve the resolution first. In the House, that’s 60 votes.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Ultrasound Appointment” by MART PRODUCTION.
