The Rundown: 69 Percent of Americans Want to Save Women's Sports
Good afternoon, and welcome to this edition of The Rundown. This biweekly newsletter is the most important political and cultural news for Christians in Ohio. Don't forget to share The Rundown with those who would be interested. Thanks for reading!
What's Happening
Ohio
0 points for truth: A gender studies professor at the University of Cincinnati was recently in the news after one of her students shared online that she received a zero for an assignment because she used the term "biological women." In a follow-up interview, the professor defended her decision, arguing that free speech ends when "you are, intentionally or unintentionally, participating in a systemic harm of some kind."
Counting the cost: The 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book report analyzes state by state how children and families are faring in terms of social and economic factors that affect child well-being. The newest report ranks Ohio 29th in the bottom half of the best states for children. The report shows troubling academic statistics, demonstrating the need for the Backpack Bill, especially for lower-income families.
Betting bust: Legalized just earlier this year, Ohio's sports gambling has been widely popular and broadly fraught with disaster. Most recently, the University of Cincinnati baseball team is facing an investigation following a suspicious wager on an April 28 game, resulting in multiple terminations. John Holden, an Oklahoma State University business professor who has written dozens of papers on sports and sports gambling, said that it's likely most of the cheating is being missed.
Decline to sign: Three months into their four month timeline, the Ohio Democratic Party has collected just over 100,000 signatures in their attempt to put an egregious amendment on the November ballot that would legalize abortion up to birth without any health and safety regulations and without parental consent for minors. It would also legalize transgender surgeries and wrong-sex hormones for children without parental consent. There are a number of other groups also gathering signatures to help the pro-abortion campaign reach its 413,446 minimum by July 5.
U.S.
Save Women's Sports: A new Gallup poll shows that 69 percent of Americans believe than trans-identified athletes should compete on sports teams that align with their biological gender, up from 62 percent in 2021. At the same time, more Americans believe that "changing genders" is morally wrong even while more Americans personally know someone who identifies as transgender.
The Soros legacy: The liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros is handing the reigns to his son Alex Soros, granting him control of $25 billion. Alex says that he is more political than his father, and plans to expand his philanthropy to include abortion and gender equity, on top of staying engaged with political candidates.
Change of plans: Middle schoolers in Massachusetts were accused of "intolerance and homophobia" after they protested against a Pride celebration at the school, wore red, white, and blue, chanted that their pronouns were "U.S.A.," and took down some of the LGBT banners. The school is now looking to provide the students with a special program to teach "tolerance, acceptance, and respect." In contrast, an all-Muslim city council in Michigan has unanimously banned LGBTQ+ flags on city property.
World
Prescription for death: Canada saw a sharp increase in government-assisted suicides last year, with an estimated 13,500 taking place in 2022, a 35 percent increase from 2021. Quebec alone saw a 51 percent increase in 2022, resulting in state-sanctioned suicides making up 7 percent of all deaths. There are plans to continue expanding this program to mentally-ill patients and terminally-ill minors. With Canada's socialized medicine, the government's role in deciding who lives and who dies will likely increase.
Listen Up
A number of notable names recently entered the 2024 Presidential Race, ramping up conversations about the rapidly growing candidate field. In a new episode of The Narrative, President and CEO of the FAMiLY LEADER Bob Vander Plaats joins CCV President Aaron Baer, Policy Director David Mahan, and Communications Director Mike Andrews to bring some clarity to the upcoming election season. Bob provides helpful insights into what's happening in the Republican primaries as well as how Christians should begin to think through the decision set before them without compromising on their beliefs.
With Father's Day this past weekend, The Narrative guys draw from their experience as dads to spend some time before the interview reflecting on the importance of fatherhood and its centrality to CCV’s legislative work. They also unpack this week’s newsworthy updates for CCV-backed legislation. Tune in for updates on the SAFE Act, Save Women’s Sports Act, Parental Bill of Rights, and the Senate Budget Proposal.
The Fight for Life: What You Need to Know
In Ohio, we're in the fight of a lifetime to protect women, children, and unborn babies.
Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and other radical pro-abortion, anti-parent organizations are pushing an amendment to our state Constitution that would permanently legalize abortion up to birth—including gruesome partial-birth abortion, remove parental consent for minors to receive abortions and sex-change surgeries, outlaw hospital health and safety standards, and more. They have hired canvassers to try to gather 413,446 signatures by Wednesday, July 5, so that they can put the amendment to a vote this November.
But in the August 8 Special Election, we have a chance to elevate the standard to amend our Ohio Constitution to 60 percent of the vote, ensuring that only the most widespread, popular ideas make it into our foundational governing document.
10 ways to protect life in 2023:
Pledge to Be a Vote for the Voiceless to get urgent election updates and unite with Christians across Ohio to protect life this August!
Connect with CCV's County Captains campaign to help reach and educate Christians in all 88 Ohio counties. Medical professionals can join a special pro-life healthcare coalition.
Meet with your pastor and help educate and motivate your church to protect life.
Inform your friends and family about how Issue 1 in August can protect Ohio's Constitution from abortion and other dangerous ideas.
Order our free pro-life devotional—More Than Conquerors: Six Weeks of Prayer for Ohio, the Unborn, and Women—for yourself, your church, your small group, or your friends and family.
Vote YES on Issue 1 in the August 8 Special Election to elevate the standard to amend the Ohio Constitution. You can read the ballot language, official explanation, official argument for, and the official argument against.
Learn more about the proposed abortion amendment and read the ballot language. The abortion amendment may not make it to the ballot if the signature gathering fails, but we need to be prepared if it makes it through.
If approached by canvassers asking you to "protect women's reproductive rights," question them about the extreme language included in the proposed amendment. Some may not know the full extent of what they're promoting.
Donate to CCV to support our efforts in educating and activating the Church.
Pray for Issue 1 to overwhelmingly pass in the August 8 Special Election, for the abortion signature collection to fall short, for the pro-abortion coalition to be divided and confused, for the darkness to be brought to light, for the truth to be compelling, and for the protection of women, children, and unborn babies.
Paid for by Center for Christian Virtue. Not authorized by any ballot issue committee.
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:
Why I quit using my students' preferred pronouns
Any caring adult would question a teenager's decision to tattoo the name of his first love across his forehead, but somehow, it's compassionate to entertain every adolescent whim concerning his or her gender. I'm sure I will be called a transphobe for writing this article. There are many of us who even five years ago were comfortable with the idea that some men and women preferred to act and dress as the opposite gender. But we will not sit idly by while our children are lied to, manipulated and told there is no difference between manhood and womanhood.
Legislative Update
The 135th General Assembly is in the middle of negotiations over Ohio's next biennial state budget which also includes a large number of policy-related initiatives.
The below CCV-backed initiatives have had recent movement in the legislature:
Substitute House Bill 68 (HB68), also known as the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act and Save Women's Sports Act, and House Bill 8 (HB8), also known as the Parents' Bill of Rights, are scheduled for a vote on the floor of the Ohio House of Representatives today, Wednesday, June 21, at 2:00 pm.
Click here to learn how a bill becomes a law in Ohio.
Take Action: Make a Difference. Get in Touch.
Elected by voters like you, our state legislators are highly motivated to listen to their constituents. It only takes 60 seconds to make your voice heard by using our Action Center to learn about the critical bills being debated at the Ohio Statehouse and to urge your Ohio legislators to take action on:
The Parents' Bill of Rights
The SAFE Act
The Save Women's Sports Act
The Backpack Bill
Elections
There are two critical elections for Christians this year: the August 8 Special Election and the November 7 General Election.
Important Dates
Friday, June 23: Military and overseas absentee voting begins
Monday, July 10: Deadline for voter registration for the Special Election
Wednesday, July 11: Early voting begins for the Special Election
Tuesday, August 8: Special Election Day*
Tuesday, October 10: Deadline for voter registration for the General Election
Wednesday, October 11: Early voting begins for the General Election
Tuesday, October 31: Applications for absentee ballots for the General Election must be received by Boards of Elections by close of business
Tuesday, November 7: General Election Day*
To Do:
Are you registered to vote? It's easy to register to vote or update your voter registration information online at olvr.ohiosos.gov.
Review what's on your ballot. Each county Board of Elections office has a list of the candidates and issues appearing on your ballot.
Learn more about Ohio elections, request an absentee ballot, and more here.
*Please note that in-person voting law has changed; a photo ID is now required to cast a ballot. View accepted forms of ID.
Don't Miss
Prayer at the Statehouse
Join us on Wednesday, September 13, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm for this popular prayer event! Register today to join us.2023 Ohio March for Life
Join us for our second annual statewide march on Friday, October 6, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Check out the details we have so far.
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. Gary Click (R-Vickery), Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), Rep. Rodney Creech (R-W. Alexandria), Rep. Jon Cross (R-Kenton), and Rep. Al Cutrona (R-Canfield).
The entire CCV team as we are leading major pro-life campaigns ahead of the August 8 Special Election and the November 7 General Election, as well as planning the second annual Ohio March for Life.
The passage of pro-family, pro-freedom bills like the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, Save Women's Sports Act, and the Parents' Bill of Rights.
The success of Issue 1 on the August 8 Special Election ballot.
Continue to pray for the complete failure of the proposed abortion amendment so that it never makes it to the November 7 ballot. 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.
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.
