By Dave Andrusko
Pro-lifers vowed that Tuesday’s defeat of Ohio’s Issue 1 will only spur them to work harder to thwart the November ballot initiative which would change the state’s constitution to enshrine unlimited abortion as part of the constitution in Ohio.
Issue 1 would have raised the threshold to change the Ohio state constitution from a simple majority vote to a vote of 60%. It lost 57% to 43% with about 1.7 million people voting against it, and about 1.3 million people voting in favor of it.
“Out-of-state dark money special interest groups, including a Swiss billionaire, just spent millions of dollars in Ohio to deceive voters into not passing Issue 1,” said Peter Range, Ohio Right to Life’s Chief Executive Officer.
Range says the organization’s mission remains unchanged. “Nonetheless, this result will not deter us from continuing to fight the ACLU’s extreme agenda this November, which seeks to allow abortion up until birth and take away parents’ rights to protect their child from being pressured into an abortion or even a sex-change operation.”
“We in the pro-life movement have the privilege of living to fight another day,” he added. “Thus, today, we rise to honor God, and the dignity of all human life, by continuing the fight to defend the innocent.”
“Pro-abortion interest groups were among those who opposed Issue 1” said NRL President Carol Tobias. “They want to promote unlimited abortion in Ohio and want to change the Ohio constitution based on their sordid pro-abortion values.” Tobias added, “They also want to ensure that Ohio’s minor daughters can have abortions without their parents’ knowledge.”
Writing for Crux John Lavenburg noted that a spokesperson for the Diocese of Columbus said
“In cooperation with the Catholic Conference of Ohio and the other Ohio dioceses, we will work toward defeating this hellborn abortion amendment in November.”
The Ohio bishops issued a letter in February opposing the abortion amendment and mailed out prayer cards and fliers explaining its harm. Brian Hickey [executive director of the Ohio Catholic Conference] said they now plan to distribute more resources denouncing the amendment, will have priests speak about it from the pulpit, and launch other initiatives.
Pro-life Gov. Mike DeWine “promised to keep talking about the proposed amendment, which he called a ‘radical approach’ and out of step with Ohioans’ positions on abortion,” Jessie Balmert and Anna Staver reported for the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
NRL President Tobias told the Cincinnati Enquirer “Quite frankly, we’re being so outspent that it’s hard to counter the message that is coming out from our opponents. The biggest one for me that I was not expecting were the lies that were being told about women not being able to get treatment, that women are going to die.”