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Renowned contemporary Christian musician Michael W. Smith urged Ohio voters to vote against a ballot measure that would establish a constitutional right to abortion.
Ohio voters are expected to decide Tuesday on the fate of No. 1. If passed, the measure would establish a constitutional right to abortion by amending the state constitution to declare that “Each individual has the right to make and carry out his or her own reproductive decisions, including, but not limited to, decisions regarding (1) contraception; (2) fertility treatment; (3) continue her own pregnancy; (4) miscarriage care; and (5) abortion.
While the proposed amendment emphasizes that “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability”, referring to the point in pregnancy when the unborn child can survive outside the uterus, it specifies that “in no case such abortion may not be prohibited if, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, it is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
Opponents of the first question argue that it will legalize abortion up to the time of birth and allow children to abort without parental consent.
Protect Women Ohio, one of the groups opposing No. 1, shared a video from Smith on his X account on Saturday. Smith delivered a message to his “brothers and sisters in the great state of Ohio,” imploring them to reject the ballot measure.
“This is not a political issue,” Smith said. “This is a moral issue that deserves a lot of attention from Ohio’s Christian voters.”
“It’s not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.”
Grammy Award-winning musician Michael W. Smith explains why Ohio voters should reject No. 1 on Tuesday.
Vote NO for number 1! pic.twitter.com/ixQO4P9rn3
– Protect Ohio Women (@ProtectWomenOH) November 4, 2023
“If this passed, it would not be a good thing. It would change what is currently the heartbeat rule and allow full-term abortion as the new rule of law,” Smith warned. “This is serious, everyone, and we all know this is a spiritual battle. But I know that through prayer and voting, you can do your part in the battle for your state and for your people.”
Smith, 66, urged Ohioans to “think about the future of Ohio for your families and especially your children” and to “spread the word in your churches and your sphere of influence.”
“We fear and glorify God, creator of all life, and this vote is a way to express your beliefs,” he concluded. “You are not alone in this fight.”
Michael W. Smith’s video isn’t Protect Women Ohio’s only effort to make a final pitch to voters in the final week before the referendum.
In a announcement posted on X Wednesday, the pro-life group features audio of a 9-1-1 call made following an abortion gone wrong.
“There was a complicated procedure. They talked about bleeding.”
Just last week, at an abortion clinic in Dayton, a woman suffered bleeding due to complications during an abortion.
The first problem would eviscerate key health and safety standards, putting untold numbers of women at risk. pic.twitter.com/YXyiOjsZsU
– Protect Ohio Women (@ProtectWomenOH) November 1, 2023
As noted in the 30-second ad, the abortion in question took place on October 25 at an abortion clinic in Dayton. The caller told the 9-1-1 operator about a “complicated procedure” that resulted in “bleeding.” The ad cuts to a voiceover noting that “number 1 rolls back health protections” and “even allows people who are not doctors to perform abortions.”
“Women’s lives are in danger. If number 1 passes, prepare yourself,” the narrator said. The commercial featured the sounds of ambulance sirens and a hospital monitor on flat screen.
Public opinion polls suggest Ohio’s No. 1 is likely to pass. A survey A study conducted by Ohio Northern University of 668 registered voters Oct. 16-19 shows that 60% of Ohioans intend to approve the ballot measure while 40% plan to vote against it. A investigation of 569 registered voters, conducted by Baldwin Wallace University between October 9 and 11, support for the first question was measured at 58%, while opposition to the referendum was 34%.
The pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America identifies Ohio as one of 25 states who implemented pro-life protections after the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling that the US Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. While Ohio passed a law banning abortions after six weeks of gestation, the measure is currently the subject of litigation.
If number 1 succeeds, Ohio will join three other states who established a constitutional right to abortion following the Dobbs decision. In last year’s midterm elections, voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved referendums similar to Question 1. Unlike those states, which supported Democrat Joe Biden in the election presidential election of 2020, Ohio supported Republican Donald Trump by more than 8 percentage points.
In a phone call with members of the media late last month, officials with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said pro-abortion advocacy groups are working to hold referendums establishing a right constitutional abortion in other states with strong pro-life protections: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Ryan Foley is a journalist at the Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
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