Good afternoon, and welcome to this edition of The Rundown. This biweekly newsletter serves as the most important political and cultural news for Christians in Ohio. Don’t forget to forward The Rundown to those who would be interested. Thanks for reading!

What's Happening

Ohio

• Signing Lives Away: Pro-abortion activists can begin the process of collecting 412,500 valid signatures to place an issue on the November ballot that would legalize painful, late-term abortions in Ohio. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost deemed that the language in the petition was “fair and truthful.” The Ohio Ballot Board also certified that the proposal contained only one constitutional amendment. Planned Parenthood and its allies have until Wednesday, July 5, to submit the required number of signatures. 
  

• Too Extreme for Ohio: Earlier this week, National Review published a thorough examination of the proposal and the consequences it would unleash on the state. According to the article, “The proposed amendment would outlaw virtually any restrictions on abortion and all other procedures, including sex-change surgeries, that touch on reproduction, for both adults and minors.” 
  

• Fighting for the Vulnerable: To defeat the extreme amendment proposal, Protect Women Ohio—a new pro-woman, pro-parent coalition—announced the first phase of a statewide television and digital ad campaign. You can watch the ad here.
  

• The Heartbeat of It All: The Ohio Supreme Court voted yesterday to accept an appeal regarding the state’s Heartbeat Law, which has been on hold since a Hamilton County judge filed a preliminary injunction last October. While the Court will consider two legal questions in the appeal from Attorney General Dave Yost, it will not consider whether the state Consitution creates a right to abortion. 

U.S.

• Let Girls Play: The U.S. Supreme Court received multiple amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs this week in support of West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Law, which prevents males who identify as female from competing on girls’ and women’s teams. The briefs accompany a motion from the WV Attorney General’s office asking the Court to reverse a federal injunction blocking the law. The need for similar legislation in states nationwide is especially apparent with the recent news that a Christian school in Vermont has been banned from future state tournaments for refusing to let their girls’ basketball team compete against a team that included a biological male and USA powerlifting will allow biological males to compete in the women’s division. 
  

• Red Light for Walgreens: On February 1, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost joined 19 Attorneys General from across the country to warn pharmacies about distributing abortion pills in their states. Walgreens recently responded that it will not distribute or stock mifepristone in any of the 20 states, including Ohio. In response, California Governor Gavin Newsome said his state would not do business with Walgreens. 
  

• The Social (Media) Age: Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has introduced legislation that would require verification that a user is at least 16 years old to open social media accounts. Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted submitted a similar proposal that would require children under 16 to have parental consent to use social media platforms for inclusion in the 2023-2024 state budget. 

Worldview Development

As a Christian, it can be hard to know how to engage with social-political conversations from a Biblical worldview. Here’s our top recommendation this week for developing your worldview to be equipped to tackle today’s top issues:

• When Mental Illness Goes Viral: Social Contagions Are Destroying Our Girls
  Millions of girls with instant access to our culture’s most viral (and dangerous) behaviors and beliefs are currently manifesting the results. 
  Read this BreakPoint commentary by John Stonestreet and Shane Morris.

Legislative Update

The 135th General Assembly is in full swing at the Ohio Statehouse. A few CCV-backed initiatives that recently had some movement in the legislature include:

The Backpack Bill (HB11), sponsored by Reps. Riordan McClain (R-Upper Sandusky) and Marilyn John (R-Shelby), would make every Ohio K-12 student eligible for an Educational Savings Account (ESA). The bill received its second hearing before the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee yesterday. Watch HB11’s sponsor hearing here.

SB11 is the Senate backpack-style bill sponsored by Sen. Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula) that would make every K-12 student in Ohio eligible to receive a scholarship to be used at a private school of the student’s choice. SB11 received its third hearing before the Senate Education Committee last week with interested parties submitting written testimony only. 

The Religious Expression Days Act (SB49), sponsored by Sen. Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester), would require public schools to allow students up to three days of excused absence each academic year for religious observance. SB49 received a third hearing before the Ohio Senate Education Committee yesterday. 

Click here to learn how a bill becomes law in Ohio.

Listen Up

In honor of International Women’s Day, we featured some of the incredible women at Center for Christian Virtue on The Narrative. 

How did abortion become a “right” in our society? What are the ethical implications of in vitro fertilization (IVF) that Christians need to consider? Can a male actually be a female?

For a robust discussion on these topics and more, you don’t want to miss our special women’s takeover episode of The Narrative! 

Elections

Important Dates

• Friday, March 17: Military and overseas absentee voting begins 

• Monday, April 3: Deadline to register to vote

• Tuesday, April 4: Early in-person voting begins and includes the Saturday and Sunday before Election Day. Absentee voting by mail also begins.

• Tuesday, May 2: Primary Election Day

To Do:

1. Are you registered to vote? It's easy to register to vote or update your voter registration information online at olvr.ohiosos.gov.

2. Review what's on your ballot. Each county Board of Elections office has a list of the candidates and issues appearing on your ballot.

3. Learn more about Ohio elections, request an Absentee Ballot, and more here.

Prayer

Scripture calls us to pray for those in authority and to have confidence that God hears our prayers. Join the CCV team this week in praying for the below intentions.

• Our elected officials: Rep. Juanita Brent, Rep. Tom Brinkman, Jr., and Rep. Richard Brown. 
  

• While we work to pass the Backpack Bill to give educational freedom, pray for the students who are trapped at dangerous schools that they may be protected from physical and mental harm. Pray also for the teachers and faculty that are doing their best to serve students and their families that they may be filled with perseverance and wisdom.
  

• Committee hearings continue for a number of key initiatives! Pray for favor for the Backpack Bill, Save Women's Sports Act, the SAFE Act, and other pro-family, pro-freedom bills, as they move through the legislative process.
  

• Continue to pray for the complete failure of the legalized abortion ballot initiative. Pray that the Lord would confuse the plans of the Enemy and bring to light the evils of abortion. If you're able to, we also encourage you to add prayerful fasting to your intercession on this critical issue.
  

• CCV is partnering with pro-life groups across the state to build a coalition of pro-life medical professionals to push back against the harmful false narrative that “abortion is healthcare.” Continue to pray for an overwhelming response of medical professionals willing to speak up for the sanctity of life.

That’s all we have for this week. Be sure to keep an eye out for our next edition, and don't forget to share CCV's Rundown with others.