The Rundown: Constitution Protection ballot language approved for August 8 election
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
Protecting Life: The Ohio Ballot Board approved language for Issue 1, the August 8 Special Election ballot issue that—if passed by voters—would elevate the approval threshold to amend our state Constitution to 60 percent of the vote. Watch the full Ohio Ballot Board meeting here. The timing is critical as there may be an extreme pro-abortion, anti-parent amendment on the ballot in November.
Rallying for the Backpack Bill: Hundreds of students, teachers, and other school choice advocates gathered on the Statehouse lawn last week in support of the Backpack Bill, Ohio's universal school choice bill.
Election Transparency: The DATA (Data Analysis Transparency Archive) Act, which would add first-of-its-kind transparency to Ohio's elections, passed the Ohio Senate this week. The DATA Act would modernize and clarify how Ohio defines and archives election records, including utilizing electronic technology to make records more accessible and auditable.
Injustice in Xenia: A man identifying as a woman was charged in Xenia Municipal Court with three counts of public indecency—three underage girls were present during one alleged incident—at the Xenia YMCA. Rather than properly recognizing women's and girls' rights to safety and privacy, the judge issued a "not guilty" ruling because the man's obesity covered his genitals. The case isn't over yet, however, as a former advocate of the man has just stepped forward, accusing him of sexually assaulting her and harassing her to the point of being granted a protective order against him.
U.S.
Fox in the Hen House: A copy of Fox News' company handbook outlining "woke" LGBT+ policies was leaked to The Daily Signal. Among other provisions, Fox News employees are allowed to use bathrooms regardless of their biological sex, permitted to dress in alignment with their preferred gender, and required to use preferred names and pronouns for their coworkers. Fox also offers to help employees come up with a “Workplace Transition Plan” to facilitate their gender transition at work.
More Boys Win Girls' Trophies: From cycling to track to weightlifting to swimming, the number of men and boys who are stealing women's sports titles and championships across the U.S. is exponentially increasing. Most recently, a high school girl in California lost her chance to compete in the state championships because a boy was allowed to compete on the girls' team. In Ohio, the Save Women's Sports Act would ensure that women and girls get to keep their sports and have a level playing field.
Fattening the Cash Cow: While children's hospitals across the U.S. racing to implement gender clinics, the Seattle Children's Hospital is finding new ways to exploit children into being life-long patients: expensive fertility preservation treatments before they undergo wrong-sex hormone therapy or other "gender transition" treatments.
Listen Up
The Narrative podcast is back! 48th Vice President of the U.S. Mike Pence, a pro-life champion, joined Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) President Aaron Baer at the 2023 Celebration Gala in Cincinnati. He spoke boldly against the radical pro-abortion, anti-parent ballot initiative that will likely appear on the Ohio ballot this November and encouraged Christians in Ohio to defend life at the polls in 2023.
Before the interview, Aaron, Communications Director Mike Andrews, and Policy Director David Mahan unpacked the recently passed Constitution Protection Resolution that will allow Ohioans to vote on Tuesday, August 8, on whether to raise the approval threshold to amend the Ohio Constitution to 60 percent of the vote.
Note: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CCV does not support or oppose any politician. CCV works with a wide variety of individuals who align with us on any of our Core Issues.
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.
Pro-abortionists have hired canvassers to try to gather 412,500 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.
Here's what you can do to protect life in 2023:
Vote YES on Issue 1 in the August 8 Special Election to elevate the standard to amend the Ohio Constitution. You can read the approved ballot language, official explanation, official argument for, and the official argument against.
Learn more about the proposed November 7 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.
Educate your friends and family on what the August 8 and potential November 7 amendments would do.
Meet with your pastor, and get your church educated and involved.
Volunteer through Protect Women Ohio, the pro-life coalition leading the fight in Ohio. You can also connect with your local coalition member, listed here. Stay tuned to hear how you can partner with Center for Christian Virtue in this pivotal year.
Donate to Protect Women Ohio, your local pro-life center, or CCV.
If approached by canvassers for the November ballot, ask them about the extreme language. Some may not know the full extent of what they're promoting.
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.
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:
Don’t Be Fooled: Charity Has Always Been Religious
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether Catholic Charities should be considered a religious entity. I’ll say that again, slightly differently. The Wisconsin State Court of Appeals determined that (Roman) Catholic Charities, an official caregiving arm of the Catholic Diocese of Superior, is not a religious organization. The Wisconsin Supreme Court will now consider that decision on appeal.
Read the BreakPoint commentary here.
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.
A few CCV-backed initiatives that have had recent movement in the legislature include:
Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR2), sponsored by Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) and Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), was passed by the General Assembly earlier this month. This resolution will allow Ohioans to vote on Tuesday, August 8, on whether to elevate the approval threshold to amend the Ohio Constitution to 60 percent of the vote.
The Save Women's Sports Act (HB6), sponsored by Rep. Jena Powell (R-Arcanum), would require schools, state institutions of higher education, and private colleges to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex. Currently, 21 states have similar laws. While HB6 was passed out of the Ohio House Higher Education Committee, Speaker of the House Jason Stephens has the power to decide whether to bring it to a full Chamber vote. You can email Speaker Stephens at rep93@ohiohouse.gov to encourage him to bring HB6 to a floor vote.
The Backpack Bill (HB11), sponsored by Reps. Marilyn John (R-Shelby) and Riordan McClain (R-Upper Sandusky), would make every Ohio K-12 student eligible for an Educational Savings Account (ESA). However, negotiations are continuing as the Governor, House, and Senate all have different ideas on how best to expand educational freedom in Ohio.
While we are still working to pass the Backpack Bill through the legislature, there is a provision in the House's version of the state budget that would raise the eligibility for EdChoice to 450% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). That would be an annual income cap of $158,130 for a family of five. However, the budget is now awaiting approval or amendments from the Senate. If the two budget proposals are different—and they always are—it will go to a small bipartisan group called a Conference Committee for further review until they all agree on the budget.
View the May 24, 2023 Legislative Tracker
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 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, and a photo ID is now required to cast your 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. Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus), Rep. Rachel Baker (D-Cincinnati), Rep. Tim Barhorst (R-Fort Loramie), Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma), Rep. Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland), and U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Warrensville Heights).
Pray for favor for the Backpack Bill, the Save Women's Sports Act, the SAFE Act, and other pro-family, pro-freedom bills, as they move through the legislative process.
Pray for 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.
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.