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NORTH CENTRAL OHIO – Next month special elections will be coming to the Buckeye State as a prelude to this Fall when voters decide whether the abortion of babies is a constitutional right. In a Post-Roe era, social conservatives in the bellwether state are laying the groundwork to defeat radical Anti-Life efforts to re-write the state’s Constitution.
In Issue 1, Ohioans will vote August 8th whether to raise the approval threshold to amend the Ohio State Constitution to 60% of the vote instead of the current fifty-percent plus one. Issue 1 will also require any initiative petition proposing to amend Ohio’s Constitution be signed by at least 5% of the electors of every county instead of in just half of Ohio’s counties. Faith leaders are encouraging their congregations to vote “Yes” for Issue 1.
“As lead clergymen representing 124 diverse congregations, we believe the bar should be raised if a special interest group wants to amend the charter of our state,” says Pastor Bruce Philippi, one the clergy co-signers. “This coming November 2023 election, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU will propose enshrining the murder of unborn babies into the Ohio Constitution and also enshrining underage minors to obtain gender-changing hormones and/or to mutilate their bodies thru surgery without parental consent. It will not stop there. In future election cycles, amendments to legalize the gateway drug marijuana, and the repeal of election integrity laws are also expected. Our firm conviction is that now is the time to safeguard our vulnerable State’s fundamental principles. ”
The clergy wrote in their open letter, “Unlike the U.S. Constitution, our Ohio Constitution can easily be changed. This bare minimum threshold of fifty-percent plus one vote encourages the Secular Left to constantly bring defeated issues back before voters with more financial backing until they eventually pass. For comparison, the U.S. Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, as well as 75% of state legislatures to formally ratify an amendment.”
According to the National Archives Foundation, of the more than 11,000 proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution throughout the nation’s two centuries of existence, only 27 constitutional amendments have been ratified. In contrast, the Ohio Constitution has been amended an astronomical 172 times.”
“Article 1 Section 7 of the Ohio Constitution states religion, morality, and knowledge, are essential to good government. As the abortion industry tries to transform our Ohio Constitution into an erasable white board, may Ohio voters raise the bar on August 8th to protect our Constitution and preserve our rich heritage. Vote Yes for Issue 1.”
Open letter signed by 124 Ohio clergymen across 17 counties
Elder James DeWeese, a former common pleas court judge, included his name with the other clergymen. He comments, “Amending the Ohio Constitution to add a right to abortion or any other absolute right automatically overturns any legislation to the contrary. Consequently, the Heartbeat Bill which took so much effort to pass and any other parental notification regarding abortion would be thrown aside by such a ballot amendment in November. Our Constitution ought not to be so easily amended. The idea that Issue 1 undermines ‘one person, one vote’ is deceptive. Issue 1 has nothing to do with voting rights; nothing changes how votes are counted.”
The open letter referenced Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who said government has been instituted, “because the passions of men will not conform to the dictate of reason and justice without constraint.”
“Proverbs 19 says ‘The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.'” says Pastor Walter Moss, a Pro-Life activist and another of the letter’s clergy co-signers. “Changing the State Constitution should be a slow process that moderates the intense passions of people in order to provide long-term stability to our system. In other words, the bedrock document our state’s laws are based on should not change at a whim’s notice.”
After the 2008 Great Recession hit and Ohio was struck with a $900 billion state budget deficit, voters the following year approved a constitutional amendment by a slim 53-47% margin. In a knee-jerk reaction, voters gave two predatory businesses a casino monopoly. Previously four state constitution casino initiatives had been defeated.
The clergy wrote, “Article 1 Section 7 of the Ohio Constitution states religion, morality, and knowledge, are essential to good government. As the abortion industry tries to transform our Ohio Constitution into an erasable white board, may Ohio voters raise the bar on August 8th to protect our Constitution and preserve our rich heritage. Vote Yes for Issue 1.”
“If a 60% threshold is good enough for the Ohio Democrat Party to amend their party constitution (Article 4, Section 1), than I think a sixty-percent threshold should be good for the Ohio State Constitution,” Pastor Philippi remarked.
Listed clergy co-signers have congregations located in (17) counties throughout Ohio: Richland (73), Crawford (10), Trumbull (9), Knox (6), Ashland (5), Morrow (4), Wayne (4), Stark (3), Mahoning (2), Coshocton (1), Huron (1), Licking (1), Lorain (1), Marion (1), Medina (1), Portage (1), & Warren (1).
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Proverbs 19, “It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge. He who sins hastens with his feet. The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the Lord.”
View video (30 second duration) below produced by Protect Women Ohio, a coalition of concerned family and life leaders, parents, medical experts, and faith leaders in Ohio:
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