As Townhall has reported since the push began, pro-abortion and anti-parent groups have been working to pass a measure amending Ohio's constitution this November to roll back important protections for women and children in the name of "women's rights." These groups have made no secret of their desire to abolish parental rights in general, meaning minors having an abortion or undergoing irreversible treatments and surgeries in attempts to change their sex would no longer need to inform their parents or obtain consent. More on how radical the proposed amendment is here.
After meeting the criteria for the amendment to be put to Buckeye State voters on this year's ballot and with just a handful of weeks until Election Day, the leading group opposing the radical rewrite of Ohio's constitution is again ringing the alarm and pointing to Michigan for a real-time example of what will happen in their own state should the amendment pass.
Less than one year ago, Michigan voters approved Proposal 3 — dubbed a rosy but misleading "Reproductive Freedom for All" — to amend the state's constitution. That amendment's passage, however, was not proponents' endgame. Now, the state legislature is pursuing a package of radical pro-abortion bills that would repeal protections for the unborn, women, and children in the Wolverine State. The bills would, among other things, strip rights for parents to be aware of and involved in their kids' medical decisions, allow abortion — including barbaric partial-birth abortion — through all nine months of pregnancy, remove safety standards established to protect women such as screening to prevent coercion and uncover cases of abuse, and roll back rules that prevented taxpayer dollars being used to fund abortions.
All that as a result of a vague and generic "Reproductive Freedom for All" amendment that Protect Women Ohio has now dubbed "The Michigan Lie" in their work to warn Ohio voters that the same fate awaits women and children in their state if a similar amendment passes there this November.
"Because of Prop 3, Michigan has become the wild, wild west where they have allowed radical abortion ideology to override common sense and compassionate medical safety requirements protecting women and children – not to mention parental rights," Protect Women Ohio Press Secretary Amy Natoce emphasized. "Ohio be warned: The tragic consequences of Michigan’s Prop 3 are coming to fruition less than a year after passage. What is happening to our neighbors will certainly happen here if Issue 1 passes," added Natoce.
Another similarity between what happened in Michigan and what could happen in Ohio is the way proponents of the amendments sought to obfuscate the true intentions for the constitutional edits. In Michigan, those pushing for the amendment, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), insisted that parental consent laws were not an issue she sought to remedy. Similar assertions have been made by proponents of the Ohio amendment. But now, Gov. Whitmer says that — due to the amendment to the state constitution — parental consent laws are now "unconstitutional" despite being perfectly legal less than one year ago.
Natoce says the same rapid change is likely to happen in Ohio if the amendment passes in November because it would suddenly, and radically, change what is considered unconstitutional in the Buckeye State. "Issue 1 would wipe away existing and future parental involvement laws, cutting parents out of the most important and life-altering decisions affecting their child," she said. "Not only that, but the proposed amendment outlaws any protections for women and unborn children, even through the ninth month of pregnancy."
Those seeking to amend Ohio's constitution might be shy or cagey about admitting what the goal and ultimate effect of their measure would be, but Michigan is a clear example of what's likely to happen in Ohio if voters approve the amendment. Laws dealing with parental rights or protections for women currently on the books about which questions are brushed aside will suddenly be labeled "unconstitutional," leaving voters who may have been misled to believe the amendment would merely restore some warped status quo shocked at the ultimate radical consequences.