Ohio Pro-Abortion Activists Submit Signatures for November Ballot Initiative

A group of pro-abortion activists delivered thousands of signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State‘s Office on Wednesday in an attempt to put an amendment to enshrine abortion into the state Constitution on the ballot in November.

The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights submitted 710,131 signatures to the secretary of state’s office before the deadline to go before voters in November.

The abortion activists needed to gather over 413,000 signatures from registered voters in at least 44 counties, which equals 10 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election before July 5th to get the amendment on the November ballot.

The proposed amendment would add Section 22 to Article 1 of the state constitution. The proposal would remove Ohio’s parental notification legislation when a minor wants an abortion and the requirement that abortionists adhere to fundamental hospital health and safety standards. The proposal also aims to permit abortions far after babies have heartbeats and can feel pain.

The process of reviewing the collected signatures to decide whether the item will appear on the ballot will take several weeks. There is an extended time when the groups can collect more signatures and refile to get on the ballot should they fall short.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has until July 25th to formally sign off on whether the measure makes the ballot.

Although LaRose told The Ohio Star that he thinks the abortion initiative is a “bad idea,” he said that the effort is “very well funded” and it wouldn’t shock him if they are able to get the adequate number of valid signatures to get on the November ballot.

According to the pro-life group Ohio Right to Life, this amendment, if passed, would remove parental rights in Ohio.

“The ACLU wants to take away parental rights in Ohio, which would enable a minor to be pressured into an abortion or even a sex change operation. This amendment cuts parents out of life-changing decisions involving their kids’ health. Not only that, but this amendment would also allow painful, late-term abortion in Ohio with no protections for the preborn. The ACLU just misled hundreds of thousands of Ohioans about their intention to push unlimited abortion and sex change surgeries for minors in our state,” Ohio Right to Life’s CEO Peter Range said.

Pro-life organization Protect Women Ohio said that the proposed amendment is a “dangers attempt to hijack Ohio’s constitution.”

“The ACLU’s extreme anti-parent amendment is so unpopular that it couldn’t even rely on grassroots support to collect signatures. The ACLU paid out-of-state signature collectors to lie to Ohioans about its dangerous amendment that will strip parents of their rights, permit minors to undergo sex change operations without their parents’ knowledge or consent, and allow painful abortion on demand through all nine months. The ACLU’s attempts to hijack Ohio’s constitution to further its own radical agenda would be pathetic if they weren’t so dangerous,” Protect Women Ohio (PWO) press secretary Amy Natoce said.

As the pro-abortion activists work to get the amendment on the November ballot, all eyes are on Ohio’s August 8th special election, when voters decide whether to change the state’s constitutional amendment process.

On August 8th, voters will decide whether to approve State Issue 1, which would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.

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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Abortion Protester in Ohio” by Becker1999. CC BY 2.0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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