(LifeSiteNews) — Less than a week before the voting begins on a radical abortion amendment that threatens to enshrine a “right” to abortion in Ohio’s constitution, thousands of citizens gathered at the state capitol to stand for life.
The 2023 Ohio March for Life took place on Friday, October 6 in Columbus, just days before early voting for the upcoming November election began. Specifically, pro-lifers were standing against the pro-abortion ballot measure that holds the potential to permit the ruthless murder of the unborn and undermine parental rights.
The radical proposal threatens to amend Article I of the Ohio constitution, making it the law that “[e]very individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.” If passed, the measure would prohibit efforts to prevent “an individual’s voluntary exercise of this right.”
A six-week heartbeat ban is currently blocked in court, pending litigation. Abortion remains legal in the Buckeye State up to 22 weeks’ gestation.
This year’s Ohio March for Life gathered around 6,000 pro-lifers, which was greater participation than the 2022 march, according to Mark Harrington, president and founder of the Ohio-based pro-life group Created Equal. While there were more participants and “little to no opposition” at the event, he noted that the “mood” of the march had shifted from last year’s, when people “were celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” to a focus on “trying to defeat the abortion amendment.”
“The [e]vent was [an] opportunity to rally the troops to volunteer to door knock, phone bank, and get out the pro-life vote,” Harrington told LifeSiteNews via email. “Ohio could become the first domino in the chain extending to 8-12 states in 2024. But we still have time to prevent Ohio from becoming California on abortion.”
“If the pro-life movement works together, we can prevent abortion extremists from achieving their diabolical plans to make Ohio the roadmap for future expansions of child killing in all fifty states.”
Harrington also acknowledged that while “we realize this is an uphill battle,” pro-lifers “are going to leave it on the field.” He maintained that “we won’t be outworked,” regardless of the outcome, and “we will have no regrets.”
“We have a pathway to victory. Our ground game is strong, and our media effort is just now being ramped up as we sprint to the finish line.”
LifeSiteNews has also contacted Gabriel Vance, founder of the Ohio-based Catholics for Life, for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The march and the upcoming election come months after Ohio voters rejected a proposal that would have changed the process to amend the state’s constitution by requiring a 60% majority vote instead of 50% plus one, therefore complicating the process of enshrining a constitutional “right” to abortion. The defeat of the pro-life-supported measure was followed by acts of vandalism at Catholic churches.
Throughout the year, pro-lifers have focused their efforts on encouraging Ohioans to vote against the radical amendment, including a rally held in August featuring pro-life advocates such as Abby Johnson and Jim Caviezel. In March, LifeSiteNews reported on the warning being spread by Ohio parents that the amendment could open the door for legally allowing so-called “transitions” for gender-confused minors without parental consent.
The general election is scheduled for Tuesday November 7, with early voting beginning Wednesday, October 11.
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