A radical pro-abortion amendment to the Ohio Constitution, backed by the ACLU and other abortion groups, could strip parents of their right to be involved if their underage daughter wants an abortion.
Although the proposed amendment does not explicitly revoke parents’ rights, it gives “every individual” – without age limits – “a right” to abort her unborn baby without interference.
The amendment “would mean that laws that conflict with it cannot be enforced, should not be enforced,” said Jessie Hill, a law professor who works with the ACLU of Ohio and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, according to Townhall.
Hill told The Cincinnati Enquirer that the decision to have an abortion “rightfully belong[s] to patients and physicians,” notably leaving out parents of underage patients in her comment.
Right now, Ohio law requires parental consent for an underage girl to have an abortion. Such laws protect unborn babies and young girls by ensuring parents are involved in helping their daughter before she makes an irreversible, life-ending decision about her child. These laws also protect young girls from coercion and abuse.
But the ACLU and other pro-abortion groups have been fighting against parental involvement laws for years. According to Protect Women Ohio, a coalition formed to oppose the amendment, the ACLU filed a 2016 lawsuit challenging an Alaska law that requires parental notification and a 2017 lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Health involving the state parental consent law.
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
“The @ACLU has a long history of fighting parental rights. They have an entire page on their website outlining their opposition to parental consent and even notification laws,” the coalition wrote on Twitter.
Earlier this week, Protect Women Ohio launched an ad warning the public about the implications of the amendment on parents’ rights, if it passes. Abortion activists quickly blasted the ad as “deceptive” while never actually denying that they want to end parental consent laws.
“Their intentionally deceptive ad is the beginning of a multi-million-dollar disinformation campaign designed to raise unsubstantiated fears and distract from the fact that the amendment will ensure Ohioans have access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion, and preserve the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship,” said Dr. Lauren Beene, executive director of Ohio Physicians For Reproductive Rights, in a statement to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Pro-life leaders contended that abortion activists are the ones being deceptive, pointing to language in the amendment that has been used in other court cases to block parental involvement laws.
Molly Smith, a board member of Protect Women Ohio, urged voters to reject the amendment if abortion activists succeed in placing it on the ballot.
“Ohioans must vote ‘no’ on this dangerous proposal,” she told Townhall. “The ACLU and the abortion industry have a long history of working to abolish parental rights and they are now bringing this anti-parent campaign to our state, hoping to enshrine their hostile political agenda in our state constitution.”
If it passes, Smith said parents will be “cut out of the most important and life-altering decisions of their child’s life.” She said parents may not even be notified if their daughter has an abortion – or is forced into one by an abuser.
Sue Liebel, state affairs director for SBA Pro-Life America, agreed with Smith, saying the amendment would “take Ohio’s law on parental consent off the books, and it would forbid mothers and fathers from being able to have a say or any knowledge if their daughter seeks an abortion.”
The amendment could be on the ballot as soon as November.
