The year that just ended was a victorious one for the pro-life cause because the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision on June 24 returned control of abortion laws and regulations to the states.
Ohio Right to Life (ORTL) hopes to follow up on that success in the coming year by working with the state Legislature and expanding its efforts to engage the culture at large.
“Our major focus for 2023 will be continuing to work toward passage of the Human Life Protection Act, a state law which will ban all abortions from the moment of conception,” said Elizabeth Marbach, communications director for the statewide organization.
“Bringing a life into this world is never wrong, no matter the circumstance. Human beings have value, and every individual in their mother’s womb today is worthy of the right to life.”
The Dobbs ruling allowed what’s known as Ohio’s “heartbeat law” to go into effect immediately upon announcement of the Supreme Court decision. The law, which the Ohio Legislature had passed in 2019, banned doctors from preventing abortions until cardiac activity is detected, which is about six weeks into pregnancy.
But the law was in effect for fewer than three months because on Sept. 14, a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge issued a temporary restraining order banning its enforcement. He followed that in October with a preliminary injunction, putting the law on hold permanently while the courts consider whether it violates the state constitution.
Until a final decision on the injunction is made, probably by the Ohio Supreme Court, the state reverts to previous law that made abortion legal until 22 weeks into a pregnancy.
ORTL also is fighting plans by several pro-abortion groups who have said they hope to introduce a ballot initiative that would have voters decide whether to amend Ohio’s constitution to specifically permit abortion.
The language for such an initiative has not been released, but Physicians for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union all have expressed support for the plan, which possibly could go before voters as soon as this November.
“Make no mistake, this will be an extreme abortion measure,” said Peter Range, ORTL chief executive officer. “The group proposing this measure will talk about health care, but all they care about will be abortion on demand, which ends the life of an innocent human being.”
Some legislators have proposed a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for such voter-proposed amendments to be approved by imposing a requirement that they receive a 60 percent majority of votes, rather than the traditional 50 percent plus one. That proposal is likely to come before the Legislature early in this session.
Ohio is considered to have one of the nation’s most pro-life state legislatures, which for several years has expanded support for family friendly issues. The year 2022 was no exception, with lawmakers in late December approving amendments to House Bill 45, which will provide new funding for pro-life organizations and adoptive families.
The amendments provide $3 million for new programs and services for pregnancy resource centers. In addition, they make any adoptive family eligible for a grant of $10,000 for adopting a child, $15,000 for adopting a child or $20,000 for adopting a child with disabilities. HB45 was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on (Jan. 6) and goes into effect 90 days later.
“Securing this funding was our biggest legislative achievement in 2022,” Marbach said. “Increasing the amount available to them is monumental for adoptive families because it is so expensive to adopt, with the cost ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 per child.”
State Treasurer Robert Sprague’s Family Forward initiative, launched in 2021, is another effort to help Ohioans navigate the adoption process.
Family Forward provides financial relief through a linked deposit program administered by the treasurer’s office. Under the program, individuals or families seeking to adopt may be eligible for reduced-interest loans that can be used for qualified adoption expenses of as much as $50,000.
Qualified expenses include, but are not limited to, adoption agency expenses, court expenses and fees, expenses incurred on behalf of the birth mother, health and psychological examination fees, home studies and travel.
Marbach said Range is putting ORTL more into the public eye by going to nonpublic middle and high schools and presenting an in-depth look at the pro-life movement and its biblical and moral bases. “One of the most important aspects of the pro-life fight is sharing the truth,” she said. “We want to encourage churches and schools to invite Peter to visit them to state our case.”
ORTL sponsored its first statewide Rally for Life at the Statehouse this past October, the U.S. bishops’ Respect Life Month, and about 2,000 people from throughout Ohio attended. Marbach said another rally will take place this October. The annual Statehouse remembrance event in January on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which the Dobbs ruling overturned, also will continue.
“Ohio is in a really good place legislatively to maintain its strong pro-life efforts,” Marbach said. “All the state’s major officials elected this past November are pro-life, so is the state Supreme Court, and there are pro-life supermajorities in the Ohio House and Senate. Some states were not as successful in electing pro-life candidates in November, but we were very fortunate.
“All of this gives huge encouragement to our organization’s work to strategize and engage and change the culture. A half-century after Roe v. Wade, the tide has turned, and we are poised and determined to really end abortion.”
