This November a “yes” vote on Issue 1 allows the Ohio constitution to establish a right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to” decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and continuing pregnancy. If passed, the amendment would restore Roe-era protections in Ohio preventing a six-week abortion ban with no exceptions and ongoing litigation from ever taking effect. The effort is part of a larger campaign to confuse voters and follows an unsuccessful attempt earlier this year by the Republican legislature to change election rules to increase the votes required to pass a measure on the ballot from a simple majority to 60 percent. In a special election in August, voters rejected the proposed rules change. By the time you read this, voting will be closed (Nov 5, 5PM) and the election will be decided. Let us hope it goes well for families in Ohio.
RESEARCH shows that states that have banned or restricted abortion have worse maternal health outcomes than those where abortion is legal. Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women experience the greatest inequities. Sometimes things just get so dark… Congress CAN enact the Women’s Health Protection Act and the EACH Act and the Biden administration can continue to explore and advance additional options to protect abortion patients and providers.
None of this has occurred overnight and our solutions to achieve abortion access for all must be expansive. This is and will continue to be a generational fight. Chess, not checkers!
DANGER DOESN’T JUST LURK, IT ARRIVES IN DISGUISE BLATANTLY…
…in the form of Representative and now Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA). He is virulently opposed to reproductive choice, trans people, LGBTQIA+ rights, birth control and on and on. He worked as an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom [sic], proposing a bill that permitted discrimination against LGBTQ people while advocating for “covenant marriage” (look it up). He believes the U. S. should be a theocracy. Mostly, he spearheaded and played a leading role in the attempt to overturn the 2020 elections. What do I need to tell you about what having this man at the helm of one of our governing bodies and third in line to the Presidency can do to rights, freedom and equality in general.
Johnson (and many others in the House) supports funding Israel but NOT Ukraine. Why? Because as an evangelical, he believes that Israel is central to the second coming [sic] of Christ and that the modern state of Israel and the gathering of millions of Jewish people there are signs that Jesus will soon return to Jerusalem for the rapture. Many also believe that Christians will be saved from the subsequent apocalypse through the rapture, while those embracing other faiths will have to convert or face being sent to hell.
The current rejection of democracy in favor of Christian authoritarianism throughout our government is upon us. Silly me. I always thought our Constitution provided for the separation of church and state. Vigilance is the price of liberty!
Lynn Wenzel