"I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." (Genesis 9:13)

What's Happening

Ohio

• Making the Budget: The Ohio Senate has unveiled its draft of the state's biennial operating budget, which encompasses several significant proposals. The budget draft features school choice expansions, though it's short of the Backpack Bill's scope. You can also read the full comparison of the House and Senate budget drafts. 

• Protecting Ohio's Constitution: In this opinion piece, Ohio attorney Orlando Sonza argues that elevating the standard to amend the state's Constitution is a positive step towards safeguarding its integrity, ensuring that only well-considered, widely popular, necessary changes are made.

U.S.

• Chickened Out: Long-viewed as Christiansim' fast-food haven, Chick-fil-A's commitments to DEI and other social justice causes are indicating a pivot from its founding principles.

• Not a Good Look: A couple of federal judges made headlines in the last week for blocking laws that protect children from LGBT activists, including a recent Florida law that protected children from being subjected to dangerous puberty blockers, wrong-sex hormones, and surgeries for the purpose of "gender transitioning," and a Tennessee law protecting children from obscene performances, including drag shows.

• Champion for Life: Super Bowl champion and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker made a bold statement for life by wearing a pro-life tie and pin during a visit to the White House with President Joe Biden. The Catholic husband and father kicked the winning field goal for the Chiefs at the 2023 Super Bowl in February and has used his public platform to courageously share his faith and pro-life beliefs.

• Tax-funded 'Pride' Trips: The U.S. Air Force has authorized Air and Space Force branch commanders to use taxpayer money to cover the travel and participation costs for service members who want to attend the department's upcoming "pride" events, which were listed in a June 1 memo from Marianne Malizia, the director of the Air Force’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

• Coming Out with Truth: Paula Scanlan, the anonymous teammate of William "Lia" Thomas who was interviewed on Matt Walsh's "What Is A Woman?" has now publicly come out with more details of the threats her team faced ahead of Thomas joining their team. 

Listen Up

Chloe Cole (pictured right) and Prisha Mosley (pictured left) were both captivated by transgender ideologies as teenagers, leading them to undergo life-altering medical and surgical procedures to "gender transition" between the ages of 12 and 16. The ensuing physical complications and overwhelming regret they experienced caused them to resume living as biological females and begin raising awareness about the harms of the transgender movement. 

In a new episode of The Narrative, Chloe and Prisha sit down with CCV Communications Director Mike Andrews and Policy Director David Mahan to courageously share about their experiences, healing, and powerful advocacy on behalf of children who need protection from the dangerous narrative that they were born in the wrong body.

Note: This conversation deals with sensitive topics, please listen with discernment.

Listen now!

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 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. 

10 ways to protect life in 2023:

1. Join the Be a Vote for the Voiceless campaign to help reach and educate Christians in all 88 Ohio counties.

2. Medical professionals can join a special pro-life healthcare coalition.

3. Meet with your pastor, and get your church educated and involved in protecting life.

4. Educate your friends and family on what the August 8 and potential November 7 amendments would do.

5. Order our free pro-life devotional, "More Than Conquerors: Six Weeks of Prayer for Ohio, the Unborn, and Women."

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Donate to Protect Women Ohio, your local pro-life center, or CCV.

10. 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 Kill Your Child’s Love Of The Rainbow Just Because ‘Pride’ Perveyors Co-Opted It

I feel compelled to warn parents away from adopting the approach, as detailed in Temme’s introduction, of telling young children not to take joy in the rainbow flags they are likely to encounter this month. Our goal is to reclaim the rainbow, fully and heartily — not relinquish its meaning to the secular hordes. I don’t care if the Dodgers host Dylan Mulvaney in a nun’s habit with a rainbow wimple — no human has the power to make ugly what God has made good. That goes for all the colors of the Earth and sky.

Read the full article 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. 

The below CCV-backed initiative had recent movement in the legislature:

The Religious Expression Days "RED" 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 was passed out of the Senate in April and is now moving through the Ohio House. Sen. Reynolds gave sponsor testimony in the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee just earlier this week. You can read or watch her full testimony.

View the June 7, 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

Take Action

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:

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.

*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: U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R-Columbus), Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton), Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), and Rep. Thad Claggett (R-Newark).

• 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.

• Wisdom, courage, and discernment for our lobbyists as they advocate on your behalf at the Ohio Statehouse on the Backpack Bill, the Save Women's Sports Act, the SAFE Act, The RED act, and other pro-family, pro-freedom bills.

• 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.