New legislation recently introduced in the Ohio General Assembly would prohibit state funding of death.
The first-of-its-kind legislation was introduced Tuesday, Jan. 28 in a press conference held by a bipartisan group of members of both chambers of the state legislature – the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives.
Should the bill be signed into law, state dollars would be prohibited from funding practices that intentionally terminate life, including abortion, the death penalty and euthanasia, or assisted suicide.
Legislators described the legislation as the product of bipartisan compromise. The bill reaffirms Ohio law, which currently prohibits state funding for abortion and euthanasia, while going a step further to abolish the state death penalty.
The Catholic Conference of Ohio, the official voice of the Catholic Church in Ohio on public policy, collaborated with legislators on the bill.
“The Catholic Church has always called for the protection of life at every stage,” said Brian Hickey, the conference’s executive director.
“The Catholic faith teaches us that every life is a gift, created in the image and likeness of God. This belief compels us to act with courage and compassion, especially when facing suffering. This legislation exemplifies that courage, offering a consistent and holistic affirmation of life that transcends partisanship by denying the state the ability to fund death.”
Under current Ohio law, the state is prohibited from funding abortion services and assisted suicide.
In November 2023, Ohioans voted to amend the state constitution, enshrining abortion access through all nine months of pregnancy.
While the newly proposed legislation cannot change regulation of or access to abortion, which has since been entrenched in Art. I Sec. II of Ohio’s constitution, existing law could now be vulnerable to abortion-related litigation. The provision ensures that state funding of abortion is prohibited.
The bill also seeks to forbid use of the death penalty, which is currently part of Ohio law. It would replace capital punishment with a sentence of life without parole.
A non-severability clause in the legislation pertaining to prohibition of state funding for taking human life ties the issues together, making them inseverable, or unable to be separated. As an example, should litigation challenge spending state dollars on abortion, it would also challenge public funding of capital punishment, reinforcing a resolve for unity.
Will Kuehnle, associate director for Social Concerns at the Catholic Conference of Ohio, described the bill as a unique opportunity.
“Of every piece of legislation I’ve ever seen, whether the Catholic Conference has ever supported or been part of, this is, in some ways, the most patently Catholic,” he said. “Whereas legislation will sometimes see one life issue or another – or one moral issue or another – as separated, the reason why I’m a Catholic is because I believe they’re all united in the person of Jesus Christ, and I think this bill sees that.”
State Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland), whose district encompasses the northwestern portion of Clermont County, located northeast of Cincinnati, said she is proud to bring forward legislation that prohibits use of state dollars for abortion, the death penalty and assisted suicide.
Each act undermines a commitment to human dignity, and to be consistent with pro-life principles, she said, all three must be opposed. Schmidt encouraged using state dollars instead to help men and women raise their children. The legislation would ensure that tax dollars are preserved for alternatives that promote life, she explained.
State senators Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), the Senate’s minority leader who represents a portion of northeast Ohio, and Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), assistant minority leader whose district encompasses much of Columbus, iterated support.
In his remarks, Craig said life is sacred and the death penalty fails to treat human lives as such. He described himself as a man of God, considering the death penalty in “strict opposition to my core values.”
State Sen. Stephen Huffman (R-Tipp City), a practicing physician serving Ohio’s fifth senate district that embodies much of the western and northern area surrounding Dayton, is also supportive of the bill.
“It represents a new era of fiscal and moral conservatism and responsibility,” state Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) said. Mathews represents parts of Warren County in southwestern Ohio.
“It is about affirming that the state should not be subsidizing death,” he said of the bill. “It should not be subsidizing ending human life no matter the form, no matter the circumstance. This legislation embodies a unity of purpose and resolves to protect that dignity for all human life from beginning to end.”
Mathews shared the story of St. Maria Goretti, a young Italian martyr who was stabbed to death in 1902 and forgave her murderer. The killer, Alessandro Serenelli, later repented and became part of the Franciscan order. He joined the Goretti family for Maria’s canonization, when she was declared a saint by the Church.
“Where there is human life, there is hope and there is dignity, and there is a path to redemption,” Mathews said.
Rachel Muha of Columbus joined legislators and the Catholic Conference of Ohio for the press conference, voicing her support for the bill.
Muha’s son, Brian, a graduate of Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School, and his roommate were tortured and murdered 25 years ago while college students at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Their killers were sentenced to life in prison.
Muha said the death penalty might appear to be the answer to a hate crime, but it denies an opportunity for healing and redemption. She advocated for using state funds to uplift life, not end life in return.
“Many people told me that Brian’s killers deserve to die, that their executions would somehow bring me peace, but my Catholic faith has taught me that justice demands far more of us,” she explained. “True justice does not mask suffering with more violence. Instead, it calls us to respond to even the most unimaginable pain with love.”
In response to her son’s murder, Muha founded Run the Race Club, a place where young people can find food, friendship and love. She strives to offer love and compassion to inner-city children, who share similar backgrounds to her son’s killers, so they do not turn to violence.
Muha described the legislation as a step toward a society that meets suffering and violence with healing and hope.
“I’ve learned that we have to give each other all the time that we can to change because it takes a long time to change a human heart,” she said.
“We have to love the most weak among us, the most innocent among us and the most guilty among us. We have to love them into the life that God wanted for them – at least we have to try with all our might.”