Michael W. Smith tells Ohioans to vote 'no' on Issue 1: 'This is a spiritual battle'
Noted contemporary Christian musician Michael W. Smith has urged Ohio voters to vote against a ballot measure that would establish a constitutional right to abortion.
Ohio voters are slated to weigh in on the fate of Issue 1 on Tuesday. If passed, the measure would establish a constitutional right to abortion by amending the state's constitution to declare that "Every individual has a right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on (1) contraception; (2) fertility treatment; (3) continuing one's own pregnancy; (4) miscarriage care; and (5) abortion."
While the proposed amendment stresses that "abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability," referring to the point in pregnancy where an unborn baby can survive outside the womb, it states that "in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient's treating physician, it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life or health."
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Opponents of Issue 1 maintain that it will legalize abortion up until the moment of birth and allow children to obtain abortions without their parent's consent.
Protect Women Ohio, one of the groups opposing Issue 1, shared a video from Smith on its X account Saturday. Smith delivered a message to his "brothers and sisters in the great state of Ohio," imploring them to reject the ballot measure.
"This is not a political issue," Smith said. "It's a moral issue, one that deserves much attention from Christian voters in Ohio."
“This is not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.”
— Protect Women Ohio (@ProtectWomenOH) November 4, 2023
Grammy Award winning musician Michael W. Smith lays out why Ohio voters should reject Issue 1 on Tuesday.
Vote NO on Issue 1! pic.twitter.com/ixQO4P9rn3
"If this passes, it would not be good. It would change what is now the heartbeat rule and allow up to full-term abortion as the new rule of law," Smith warned. "This is serious, everybody, and we all know this is a spiritual battle. But I know by prayer and by casting your vote, you can do your part in the battle for your state and for your people."
Smith, 66, urged Ohioans to "think of the future in Ohio for your families and especially your children" and "spread the word in your churches and your sphere of influence."
"We fear and glorify God, the maker of every life, and this vote is one way to express your convictions," he concluded. "You are not alone in this fight."
The Michael W. Smith video is not Protect Women Ohio's only effort to make a final pitch to voters in the last week before the referendum.
In an ad posted to X Wednesday, the pro-life group features audio from a 9-1-1 call made following an abortion gone wrong.
"There was a complicated procedure. They said bleeding."
— Protect Women Ohio (@ProtectWomenOH) November 1, 2023
Just last week at an abortion clinic in Dayton, a women suffered from bleeding due to complications in an abortion.
Issue 1 would eviscerate key health and safety standards putting countless more women at risk. pic.twitter.com/YXyiOjsZsU
As indicated in the 30-second ad, the abortion in question took place on Oct. 25 at an abortion clinic in Dayton. The caller told the 9-1-1 operator about a "complicated procedure" that resulted in "bleeding." The ad transitions into a voice-over noting that "Issue 1 strikes down health protections" and "even allows people that are not doctors to perform abortions."
"Women's lives are at risk. If Issue 1 passes, get ready," the narrator asserted. The ad featured the sounds of ambulance sirens and a flatlining hospital monitor.
Public opinion polling suggests Ohio Issue 1 is likely to pass. A poll of 668 registered voters conducted by Ohio Northern University from Oct. 16-19 shows 60% of Ohioans intend to approve the ballot measure while 40% plan to vote against it. A survey of 569 registered voters conducted by Baldwin Wallace University between Oct. 9 and 11 measured support for Issue 1 at 58% while pegging opposition to the referendum at 34%.
The pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America identifies Ohio as one of 25 states that have implemented pro-life protections after the U.S. Supreme Court determined in the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. While Ohio passed a law banning abortions after six weeks gestation, that measure is currently tied up in litigation.
If Issue 1 passes, Ohio will join three other states that have established a constitutional right to abortion following the Dobbs decision. In last year's midterm elections, voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved referendums similar to Issue 1. Unlike those states, which supported Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Ohio supported Republican Donald Trump by more than 8 percentage points.
In a phone call with members of the media late last month, officials with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said pro-abortion advocacy groups are working to put referendums establishing a constitutional right to abortion in additional states with strong pro-life protections: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
