COLUMBUS, OH — Protect Women Ohio (PWO), the coalition opposing Issue 1, released a new ad today featuring Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine highlighting the radical nature of Issue 1 and urging Ohioans – both pro-life and pro-choice – to vote NO on Issue 1. The 30-second spot, titled “Studied,” is part of a multi-million-dollar buy from Protect Women Ohio and will run on broadcast television and digital platforms statewide. The ad features the Governor and First Lady speaking directly to camera, explaining they have carefully studied the amendment language and concluded Issue 1 goes too far by allowing late-term abortion through all nine months of pregnancy and gutting parental rights.
“Issue 1 would allow an abortion at any time during a pregnancy, and it would deny parents the right to be involved when their daughter is making the most important decision of her life,” First Lady Fran DeWine explains in the new ad. Governor DeWine continues, “I know Ohioans are divided on the issue of abortion. But whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice, Issue 1 is just not right for Ohio.”
Current Ohio law permits abortion up until 22 weeks of pregnancy for any reason. After 22 weeks, Ohio law contains exceptions to protect the life of the mother and to prevent “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” of the mother. Should Issue 1 pass, Ohio will become the most radical abortion regime in the country, allowing for late-term abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, including when science confirms an unborn child is capable of feeling pain. As a constitutional amendment, Issue 1 will trump state law, rendering the 22-week ban unenforceable.
By failing to explicitly define viability, and by giving abortionists the final word in determining when post-viability abortions can be performed on a case-by-case basis, Issue 1 leaves the door wide open for painful, late-term abortions. Issue 1 also contains a major loophole by allowing late-term abortions to protect the “health” of the mother. The United States Supreme Court has interpreted “health” to include not just a mother’s physical health, but also her mental, emotional, social and financial health, essentially permitting late-term abortion for any reason.
The groups supporting Issue 1 have refused to rule out the fact that Issue 1 will legalize late-term abortion up until the moment of birth in Ohio.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of the abortion industry, more than 50,000 abortions are performed annually after 15 weeks when an unborn child is capable of feeling pain, and at least 10,000 are performed after 20 weeks.
PWO highlighted the fact that Issue 1 will permit painful, late-term abortions in Ohio in a recent ad featuring Ohio abortionist Martin Haskell. Haskell invented the barbaric partial-birth abortion technique in Ohio, and brags that he “routinely” performs late-term abortions at 20-24 weeks, even admitting 80% of the partial-birth abortions he performs are “purely elective.” Haskell gave $100,000 to the campaign supporting Issue 1 because he knows it is an investment in his late-term abortion practice.
Issue 1 will also remove parents from the equation, allowing minors to obtain abortions and life-altering medical procedures without parental consent. As a recent Cleveland.com report explains, parental consent laws “could stay in place if the state or anti-abortion attorneys can successfully argue to a court that parental involvement would advance a girl’s health.
”The ACLU, which wrote and is bankrolling Issue 1, has a long and well-documented history of attacking parental rights across the country, including in Michigan, Indiana and Alaska. The ACLU also publicly rallies against parents’ rights on its website, and its coalition partners call for the abolition of parental rights on social media. |
