To the Editor”

It’s been disappointing how lightly many are taking the threats posed in the upcoming election. If the abortion and sex-change amendment (Issue 1) passes it would bring major change to Ohio’s Constitutional law, which significantly affects all existing regulations relevant to abortion and other alarming issues embedded in the legal jargon of Issue 1.

This would not “just take us back to the era of Roe v. Wade,” as some seem to think. It’s an unprecedented legal situation: abortion without limits, derailing safety and consent requirements for abortion businesses, extending exploitation of minors to hyper-sexualized agendas, enabling miscreants to conceal, from parents, their mistreatment of minors.

I’m grateful many people are praying individually to stop this amendment, but this is something every church ought to include in all services. Don’t take this lightly!

There’s nothing to fear from no votes, but much to fear from yes votes.

A “no” vote—which we need from every eligible voter — will maintain all genuine reproductive care including miscarriage care, fertility care, prenatal and maternity care, just as we’ve always had, and always should have. No one is trying to take away those things, so it’s deceptive of Issue 1 proponents to claim that miscarriage care has been or would be legally denied to anyone. They intentionally downplay the real intent of this radical proposal, but there’s documented evidence that the backers of the abortion and sex-change amendment have fought parental consent laws tooth and nail; e.g., a major funder of Issue 1, using the acronym URGE, explicitly promotes the idea that “parental involvement laws are unethical and must be abolished,” coarsely claiming those laws undermine the “autonomy” of minors, regardless of their age. (For citations or documentation, email [email protected].)

This is not even the type of law that belongs in a Constitution; these types of questions should be dealt with in the statutes. Those pushing their own commercial interests in abortion (and the exploitation of children) intentionally went for the Constitution. So Issue 1 is not just an attack on human life, it’s an attack on important checks and balances in our form of government.

As someone who’s devoted much heart and time to helping others heal from the wounds of the hyper-sexualized culture, I can’t sit back without a fight watching the devastation escalate. No one should.

We need every eligible voter at the polls, voting “no” sometime between now and Nov. 7.

Anne Schmiesing

Sidney