OHIO LEGISLATORS & LEADERS TO FIGHT ISSUE 1

Our Children are Not for Sale to the Highest Bidder

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: November 10, 2023
Contact: Janet Porter, 202-241-2ACT (2228)
contact@F2A.org

In addition to the 26 Ohio legislators who issued a joint statement against Issue 1 on Tuesday, legislative leaders announced today they will be introducing bills to address Issue 1 in the Ohio House. Tuesday’s joint legislative statement said in part, “This initiative failed to mention a single, specific law. We will do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed based upon perception of intent.”

“Foreign billionaires don’t get to make Ohio laws,” said Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), pointing to millions from billionaires outside America that helped fund Issue 1. Gross added, “This is foreign election interference and it will not stand.”

“If foreign money can be used to buy elections, what’s to stop the Chinese from funding a forced-abortion amendment next?” asked Faith2Action President Janet Folger Porter. “This ends here.”

“Issue 1 doesn’t repeal a single Ohio law, in fact, it doesn’t even mention one,” said Representative Bill Dean (R-Xenia). “This initiative is too vague and ambiguous to change anything.”

“Just as we wouldn’t reinstate slavery by a popular vote, the inalienable right to life cannot be infringed, no matter how much foreign money was spent on false and misleading ads,” said former State Representative Candice Keller, a joint sponsor of Ohio’s Heartbeat Law.

“Our children are not for sale to the highest bidder on a ballot initiative,” said Porter, who was instrumental behind the passage of Ohio’s Woman’s Right to Know Law, Parental Consent, Fetal Homicide, Partial Birth Abortion Ban, and the Heartbeat Law. She continued, “The Supreme Court in Dobbs established that this is for elected representatives to decide. Just as Missouri legislators negated a stem cell ballot initiative in 2006, we will do likewise.”

Constitutional Attorney Andy Schlafly, son of the renowned Phyllis Schlafly stated, “Issue 1 violates the right to elect representatives to decide fundamental issues. Ballot initiatives cannot infringe on the inalienable right to life, and the legislature should withdraw jurisdiction from the courts to prevent misapplication of Issue 1 against life.”

Representative Beth Lear (R-Galena) stated, “No amendment can overturn the God given rights with which we were born.”

“Why would we allow deceptive foreign money to use vague and obscure inference to dismantle 50 years of open, transparent, and Constitutional legislation?” asked former State Representative Ron Hood, who helped lead the charge to pass Ohio’s Parental Consent, Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, and the Heartbeat Law.

State Representative Melanie Miller (R-Ashland) stated, “We will continue to be a voice for every child in their mother’s womb who cannot speak for themselves.”

“Speaking from Michigan, a state that was once was a pro-life leader, we now have abortion until birth and partial-birth abortion, because of a similar unconstitutional amendment,” said Pastor Corey Shankleton, President of Faith2Action Michigan. “I want to encourage every person, especially legislators, to stand against this foreign-funded assault.”

A recent Michigan poll conducted by the Marketing Resource Group clearly shows “voter’s remorse” for those who supported Proposal 3, the deceptive Michigan amendment similar to Ohio’s Issue 1. It revealed 60 percent of voters who said they voted “yes” on their amendment last fall, support Parental Consent despite voting for the amendment that stripped parents of it.

The poll also showed 65 percent of Proposal 3 supporters agree with the 24-hour waiting period to provide women with informed consent, something the amendment for which they voted repealed. In addition, the poll revealed 97 percent of Proposal 3 supporters want abortion facilities to be licensed and inspected by the state to ensure basic public health and sanitation standards, despite voting for the amendment to repeal them.

“Why did people vote for an amendment diametrically opposed to their beliefs? They were deceived, just like in Ohio, where confusing ads intentionally hid and deliberately lied about what the amendment would do,” stated Porter.

Shankleton added, “These proposals are so vaguely written in order to deceive the public into passing them, that to enact them into law requires deciphering ambiguous intent. That’s not how Constitutional law is created!”

To prevent mischief by pro-abortion courts with Issue 1, Ohio legislators will seek to remove jurisdiction from the judiciary over this ambiguous ballot initiative. The Ohio legislature alone will consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws based on public hearings and input from legal experts on both sides.

“We will withdraw jurisdiction from the courts so that they cannot misapply Issue 1 for the benefit of the abortion industry,” said Representative Gross, of a procedure utilized successfully in the past.

“We fully support Representative Gross and the courageous legislators who are using their Constitutionally-granted powers in accordance with the Dobbs decision to protect Ohioans and parental rights,” said John Stover, President Ohio Value Voters.

Michigan Poll: https://www.micatholic.org/