Ohio abortion enthusiasts are determined to enshrine abortion through the entire nine months in the state's constitution.
To amend the state constitution and solidify abortion “rights” in Ohio, the first step was to get enough signatures of registered voters so the issue would be placed on the ballot this November.
“The issue would have required 60% of state voters to approve a proposed constitutional amendment in the initiative and referendum process, up from a simple majority adopted during the Progressive Era in 1912,” The Washington Stand reported.
The proposal, written by the ACLU of Ohio, would amend Article 1 of the Ohio state constitution, saying, "Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” The state is thereby prohibited from setting up any barriers against “an individual’s voluntary exercise of this right.”
The signatures were submitted in early July, and on August 8 Ohio voters voted down the measure making it more difficult to add a constitutional “right” to abortion to the state. The issue is now set for a vote in the November election.
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For weeks leading up to the signature submission pro-abortion groups were out in full force across the state for weeks to get signatures in favor of the issue to be on this fall’s ballot.
A total of 700,000 signatures in favor of the initiative were submitted. Out of those, 495,938 were found to be valid, according to Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose. The minimum required was 413,487 signatures.
One requirement for a valid signature is for the person to be a registered voter in the state of Ohio.
However, the pro-life organization, Created Equal, got video of an encounter at Columbus State Community College this past April where a paid signature-gatherer was asking for signatures in support of this extreme bill.
In the video, he approaches a small group of students asking, “Hey are you in support of abortion through all nine months?” A female student is handed the clipboard to sign and clearly says, "I'm not a registered voter." Her signature is obtained anyway.
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Ohio Right to Life has condemned the proposal, arguing that it “would enshrine abortion until birth and remove all protections for the preborn — including a parent’s ability to stop their child from being pressured into an abortion.”
“We ask all Ohioans, who love life, to join us in rejecting this extreme amendment,” Ohio Right to Life CEO Peter Range said in a July 25 statement.
Ohio Right to Life said as well that the language of the ballot initiative is extremely vague, making it even more dangerous than originally believed.
Created Equal’s Program Specialist Ethan Rambeck told Pregnancy Help News that a complaint about the illegal signature was submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State. They’ve received no response.
The Created Equal video is available HERE.
