Pro-life group reached over 500K Ohio voters ahead of Issue 1 vote
A pro-life advocacy group has announced that it has reached over half a million voters in Ohio as it seeks to defeat a ballot measure that would establish a constitutional right to abortion.
In a statement released Monday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America announced that its partner organization in the state of Ohio, Protect Women Ohio, had made half a million visits to Ohio voters to urge them to reject Issue 1.
If passed, Issue 1 would amend Ohio's constitution to read, "Every individual has a right to make and carry out one's 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."
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Although the proposed amendment states that "abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability," referring to the point in pregnancy where the unborn baby can survive outside the womb, it declares 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."
The provision of Issue 1 allowing abortions to take place after viability to protect a woman's life or health has led to concerns that it will lead to the legalization of abortion up until the moment of birth in Ohio.
Protect Women Ohio and other pro-life groups have worked hard to defeat Issue 1, which voters will decide the fate of as they head to the polls Tuesday.
"We are encouraged by the strong momentum and energy among pro-life Ohioans going into Election Day," said Protect Women Ohio Spokeswoman Kelsey Pritchard. "Our canvassers are pounding the pavement to the last moment, cutting through the Left's misinformation to educate voters about the radical agenda behind Issue 1 and how essential it is to turn out and defeat it."
Pritchard warned that "Issue 1 would gut parental rights, put women and children of all ages at risk, and cement painful late-term abortions through all nine months of pregnancy — even barbaric partial-birth abortions — in the Ohio constitution, and tie the hands of elected lawmakers so it is impossible to enact any commonsense limits in the future."
"When Ohioans understand the sweeping consequences of enshrining this measure in the state constitution, whether they are pro-choice or pro-life, they understand it is far too extreme, and we see minds change right before our eyes," she added.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America noted that Protect Women Ohio's efforts to defeat Issue 1, which include TV and digital ads, voter mail, phone calls and text messages, have involved nearly 30,000 visits to Ohio voters in the final week of the campaign.
A poll of 668 registered voters conducted by Ohio Northern University between Oct. 16 and 19 revealed that 60% of Ohioans planned on supporting Issue 1 while 40% intended to vote against it. A July poll of 569 registered voters conducted by Baldwin Wallace University from Oct. 9-11 also found majority support for the ballot measure. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed told pollsters that they planned on voting "yes" on Issue 1, while 34% intended to vote "no."
Issue 1 is one of several abortion-related referendums to appear before voters following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion.
Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved ballot measures that established a right to abortion in their respective state constitutions during last year's midterm elections.
If voters reject Issue 1, existing pro-life protections would remain in effect in Ohio. While Ohio has enacted a law prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually at around six weeks gestation, the measure is tied up in court.
According to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Ohio is one of 25 states that have implemented strong pro-life protections prohibiting abortion at 15 weeks gestation or sooner following the Dobbs decision.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America told reporters in a phone call late last month that pro-abortion advocacy groups are working to ensure ballot measures similar to Issue 1 appear before voters in additional states with strong pro-life protections in the near future: 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
