Passed yesterday by a simple majority of voters in the Buckeye State, Ohio’s radical Issue 1 defines a person’s so-called right to “reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion.”
Current law in Ohio permits abortion up to 20 weeks, because the state’s “heartbeat bill,” which went into effect last year with the demise of Roe v. Wade, has been tied up in litigation ever since.
Ohio also has a PRENDA law — which stands for Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act. It prohibits discriminating against an unborn child based on conditions such as a Down syndrome diagnosis.
But the new amendment, which takes effect in 30 days, throws all that out.
It establishes abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, even allowing for late-term and dismemberment murders of the unborn. It effectively legalizes discrimination, as babies can now be executed on the basis of race, sex, or disability.
Issue 1 also legally protects any person or entity who assists someone who is seeking an abortion.
But that’s not all.
According to a legal analysis by the Ohio Attorney General’s office, the amendment ends parental consent requirements for abortion as well as minors’ contraception, sterilization, and “gender transition” choices.
The amendment’s awkward and deceptive title is “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” and its Orwellian twist on words should come as no surprise. It was drafted by the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that for more than a century has worked tirelessly to subvert our nation. One of its primary founders, Roger Baldwin, testified before Congress in 1938 that the aim of the ACLU is “socialism, disarmament, and ultimately [abolishment of] the State itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion.”
Also on Tuesday, voters in Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania made decisions that will affect abortion, to the detriment of the unborn in their states.
Prior to yesterday’s election, Virginia allowed abortion until the moment of birth due to a broadly defined “health” exception. That’s not likely to change, since Democrats swept both legislative chambers on Tuesday. (Until then, Republicans had held a slim majority only in the House.) Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin now has little hope to implement his proposed ban on abortions after 15 weeks.
Kentucky protects unborn life at conception, with limited exceptions, a situation that may be in peril since pro-death incumbent Democratic Governor Andy Beshear defeated pro-life GOP nominee Daniel Cameron.
Pennsylvania allows abortion after 24 weeks gestation. Pro-lifers aren’t likely to see a turnaround, since yesterday Keystone State voters filled a vacant seat on their state Supreme Court with the staunchly pro-abort Democrat Daniel McCaffery. He edged out Republican Carolyn Carluccio, who was endorsed by Pennsylvania’s Pro-Life Federation.
