Worse than Roe!

Issue One will not restore the Roe v. Wade decision in Ohio. It goes far beyond that, further than most prochoice advocates are even aware. It is not a middle ground solution. It is not a compromise. It does not protect women’s health.

The language begins with simple fear mongering by suggesting that it protects care for miscarriages and the right to contraception: two issues that literally no one opposes. I’ve not heard a single person in the legislature advocate against contraception, not even once. If they did, they would be lonely in the legislature. There is zero chance that contraception would be banned. But it’s a nice fear tactic. The same is true for miscarriage care. The simple fact that the authors of this amendment would include those issues as scare tactics is your warning sign that they are not honest brokers of information and that you should beware of what else they are hiding.

Under Roe, reasonable safeguards such as parental consent or pain capable protections could be established. Even those who support abortion under certain conditions realize the vital role of parents in such critical times. Some will respond, “Well, what if the father is responsible?” It’s obvious that they haven’t thought this through. No father that has committed such a heinous criminal act would want to protect the evidence. He is more likely to insist on an abortion. However, under issue one, he is protected. Questioning the perpetrator who brings in a victim would be considered an undue burden under Issue One. Do we really want to protect pedophiles? Who can support that?  

This amendment further enables human trafficking which is already an unwanted epidemic. That may not be the goal, but it will be the result of this overreaching amendment. Again, Issue One forbids interfering in any manner those who assist a girl having an abortion, regardless of the clues in front of them. You don’t have to be prolife to hate the idea of empowering men to abuse women and cover it up. The unintended consequences are real.

Finally, if Issue One grants the right for reasonable regulation at the point of viability, or when the child can survive outside of its mother’s womb, it takes that protection away in the same breath. While the language does indeed say that abortion can be regulated at the point of viability, it then grants exceptions to the abortionist at his own discretion. The exceptions are loosely defined as the “health” of the mother. While it is reasonable to protect the mother’s life, the word health is so loosely defined that it can mean anything the abortionist wants it to mean. “You don’t want a baby? Oh, this is bad for your mental health.” It is really just that simple. When the abortionist defines the terms, you can’t pretend that there is an expectation of reasonable regulation. It will be legal all the way up to birth, including partial birth abortion. That is insane in any culture.

The stark reality is that rather than constructing a common-sense compromise, the pro-abortion groups have greatly overreached. They could have presented a middle ground solution that would have been difficult to argue against. However, even prochoice people hesitate when they realize how extreme this is. Enabling abuse, incest, and pedophilia to be covered up and covered over is not the reproductive freedom they were looking for. This is not Roe reinvented. This is worse than Roe. Much worse. Issue One will embed this dark reality in Ohio’s Constitution where it will be virtually impossible to revise, remove, or repair. So maybe it’s time to rethink.

This is not Roe reborn. It is literally worse that Roe.