Now that Issue 1 has failed and a proposed abortion amendment needs just a simple majority of votes to pass in the November election, the time has come for Catholics and all lovers of life (born and unborn) to ramp up their efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us.
The amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot is a blatant attempt to enshrine the right to abortion in the Buckeye State as part of its constitution. Make no mistake, this initiative is a serious threat that will allow preborn lives to be eliminated in the womb until the time of birth.
To make matters worse, the language of the proposal also threatens parental rights. By referring to an “individual” rather than an adult or child, parents would lose their power to prevent a child from making harmful decisions such as procuring an abortion or opting for gender transition through hormones or irreversible sex-change surgeries that mutilate the body.
And if that’s not bad enough, anyone (abusers included) who assists a minor in getting an abortion or sex change could be protected.
This proposal is radical. It’s extreme. It’s scary.
And Catholics might be the only group of people who can prevent wholesale abortion from becoming legal in Ohio.
Let’s be clear: We’re not talking about the Church as a religious entity becoming involved in a political issue. We’re referring to individual Catholics who have a moral duty beyond the political sphere to preserve every soul that God has created.
Only Our Lord decides who lives or passes from this earth, not a collection of boisterous abortion-rights supporters and politicians leading a campaign that uses scare tactics such as “loss of women’s rights” and “women may die” without so-called “safe and legal” abortion.
Church leaders have received undue criticism from individuals and in the media for declaring their support for life. Some dissenters have claimed that the Church is violating its non-profit status by speaking about issues in the political area. But as Bishop Earl Fernandes explained so well in a recent column:
“Although the Constitution ensures separation of church and state, that is largely to prevent the government from intruding into religious affairs and to prevent religious groups from running the government. It does not mean that Catholics and other religious groups should keep their faith private, nor does it mean that they should not be involved in the political process to shape a better civilization and to promote the common good. In fact, because God has so blessed us, we have perhaps an even greater responsibility toward our brothers and sisters, born and unborn.”
In April, a group of nuns from religious orders in Ohio that included several sisters from a Columbus-based order penned an op-ed published by The Cincinnati Enquirer that seemingly sought to de-emphasize the debate over abortion. They wrote:
“We are deeply concerned that recent legal and legislative efforts to criminalize abortion and block access to reproductive care threaten the lives and dignity of women. Abortion bans in Ohio and other states have made high-risk pregnancies even more dangerous. Black and Hispanic women, who often struggle to access quality medical care and suffer from higher maternal mortality rates, are disproportionately impacted by these punitive laws. Sadly, many politicians and religious leaders often promote these policies as ‘pro-life.’
“If Ohio lawmakers and elected officials across the country truly care about being pro-life, they should consider how these punitive laws hurt women and fail to address the complexity involved in how women use discernment to make reproductive decisions.”
Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr wrote an op-ed several weeks later in the same newspaper that read in part:
“At no point should any person, inside or outside the womb, be deemed less of a life because someone else says so. To think otherwise is to objectify that life. Society must never claim for itself the ‘right’ to determine the value, worthiness or dignity of another person for any reason whatsoever, including whether or not that person is wanted. Yet, today, our culture suggests that some humans are more important than others, and those less-important humans might actually be expendable. Pope Francis has lamented, ‘The throwaway culture says, “I use you as much as I need you. When I am not interested in you anymore, or you are in my way, I throw you out.” It is especially the weakest who are treated this way − unborn children, the elderly, the needy, the disadvantaged.’
“We are currently facing an extraordinary threat to the dignity of life right here in Ohio: an amendment (deceptively named ‘The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety’) to the Ohio Constitution that would enshrine the ‘right’ to take the lives of innocent children in the womb and harm mothers in the process is being proposed to voters for the November 2023 ballot. This amendment also would remove existing parental notification laws and basic safety standards and enable abortion based solely on a preborn child’s disability diagnosis. Innocent children in the womb would be lost, and their mothers would be both wounded in the moment and emotionally scarred for years to come. Ohio does not need a constitutional amendment that only perpetuates violence and a culture of death.
“God alone is the Author and Lord of life. Therefore, the intentional taking of innocent human life, no matter the circumstances, is intrinsically evil and must always be opposed. Any position to the contrary is inconsistent with the constant teaching of the Catholic Church because it is inconsistent with the nature of life itself.
“In the name of the one Lord of Life, we must vigorously oppose any suggestion that there exists a ‘right’ to take the life of an unborn child in the womb. Instead, let us all engage in prayer and a joyful outpouring of love and support for pregnant women, especially those most in need. No woman should feel so alone, coerced or hopeless that she chooses to end her child’s life through abortion. I urge everyone throughout Ohio to both pray for and actively assist all expectant mothers. Together, let us redouble our commitment to caring for women, children and families so that abortion is not only illegal, but unthinkable.”
The results of the special statewide election on Aug. 8 make it easier for the amendment to pass in November by a simple majority of voters rather than a super-majority of 60% that Issue 1 proposed.
Our challenge as Catholics (again, this is not the Church endorsing a political candidate) is to do whatever we can to prevent abortion from becoming a constitutional right in Ohio, as it has now in California, Vermont and neighboring Michigan since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
How do we help?
Pray fervently that God will intervene. Use social media, talk to friends, relatives and neighbors about why it’s important to vote against this amendment. Assist the clergy and pro-life groups at your parishes and in your towns with advocacy on the issue.
The Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America Columbus Region and other pro-life organizations need representatives in the diocese as canvassers to go door to door providing information about the threat to the unborn and parental rights in this amendment.
Ohioans have already seen that the amendment backers are well funded by abortion providers and civil liberties organizations that will continue to pump millions of dollars of advertising into the state over the next few months. Let’s pray and work as hard as we ever have to win this battle to keep all children safe from harm.