About two months ago, the Supreme Court released its final decision in the Dobbs case, a decision that returned the full authority to regulate or ban abortion to individual states. Within hours, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost had worked together to restore Ohio’s heartbeat law, a law prohibiting abortion after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected.
Abortion advocates responded sharply, saying that only one or two percent of women having abortions have them before the age of gestation. However, we have continued to see abortion clinics open with patients, families, employees and volunteers on site, and we have heard from many people asking how this could be possible.
There are a few things happening. First, we believe abortion clinics were a little misleading about the number of women who have abortions vs. the number of patient contacts who are pre-heartbeat. For example, women who had to wait two or three weeks before scheduling an abortion are getting in immediately, and some procedures that perhaps would have been held for a week or two due to gestational age are less likely to be delayed.
Philanthropists, municipal governments and corporations have also provided millions of dollars to help women access abortion networks out of state. Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio recently announced that in the last month it had provided 200 women with so-called abortion passports. In this system, women come into an abortion clinic, pay several hundred dollars to the clinic for their pre-procedure testing and paperwork, and if they are beyond the fetal heartbeat stage, clinic employees and volunteers arrange for transportation and sundries for out-of-state abortions.
In many ways, none of this has been surprising. Anyone who thought that the Dobbs decision meant it was time to take a victory lap is mistaken. As we have reiterated, now is when we really need to buckle down and be present, be prayerful, and be proactive to be pro-life.
However, we need to realize that Ohio abortion clinics, including two in Columbus, are still open and hundreds of babies are still dying in our communities every week.
In fact, this past week brought long-welcome news in the pro-life movement, as the infamous Women’s Med of Dayton announced it would be closing both its Ohio and Indiana offices in mid-September (absent any legal intervention in Ohio and Indiana). Closure of Women’s Med is significant beyond even the immediate cause of celebration; it also marks a symbolic victory because its founder is known as one of the men who developed the gruesome partial birth abortion procedure. As we stand in prayerful celebration with our Dayton-area friends, we also think this will increase the number of women who come to Columbus to get an abortion or an abortion passport. Not only due to proximity, but also because some abortion providers in Dayton got their start in Columbus, and the City of Columbus has set aside more than a million dollars to assist with abortion access and harass pregnancy help centers.
We are living in historic times. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how much the next few months will determine if Ohio will be a state that ends the barbaric practice of intentionally killing children in the womb, or if we will expand abortion through all of pregnancy and mandate taxpayer funding. The biggest determinant will be: who shows up?
So, if you would like to make history, please see now as a time to show up. Dayton’s clinic will close in time for the Fall 40 Days for Life campaign. Women will still show up to Planned Parenthood, and when they arrive, we need prayerful, peaceful, hopeful, and helpful people there to meet them in their need. This is an exciting time to sign up for an hour or coordinate a day for your church (www.gcrtl.org/40-days-for-life). God willing, this could be the last 40 Days for Life campaign in Columbus.
We cannot just assume that lawmakers will enact a full abortion ban this fall. They too will be looking to see who shows up at pro-life events, at community events and on election day. Ohio has recently announced a large uptick in voter registration among women and most assumptions are that this is due to post-Dobbs activity among abortion advocates. What are we doing to talk about faithful citizenship (not partisan politics) in our churches?
The next few months will offer a multitude of opportunities to live our faith in the public square. There is no question that history is being made. The only question? Will you show up to be a part of it?
Calling all artists
Greater Columbus Right to Life is calling all artists, from the youngest among us to the young-at-heart to design a poster or tee shirt design that best embodies the prolife message of “Always Pray and Do Not Give Up.”
GCRTL will be taking entries from different age groups, including elementary and middle school, high school and college, and adults. Winning designs will be duplicated for use in March for Life tee shirts and posters. Winners will be selected from each age group, with cash prizes.
Both individual entries and classroom contests are welcome. Entries are due on Sept. 16. For complete rules and information, poster size, and submission information visit www.gcrtl.org/design.
Beth Vanderkooi is the executive director of Greater Columbus Right to Life.
