Is Issue 1 a power grab by the abortion industry?
The right of reproductive decisions in Issue 1 is actually five specific rights. Abortion is the fifth right. Why are the other four "rights" being placed in the state constitution? The practices of "contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one's own pregnancy and miscarriage care" are not being denied in Ohio today. Why do they appear as new human rights in the language of Ohio Issue One?
The same types of services also happen to be services that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry provide at their facilities. Planned Parenthood nationwide receives hundreds of millions of dollars annually providing these services. Much of that money comes in the form of state and federal grant funding. Once these five services are converted into human rights they cannot be interfered with. The language of Issue One declares:
B. The State shall not directly or indirectly burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with or discriminate against...
An individual's voluntary exercise of this right or
A person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right...
Planned Parenthood and other providers of these five rights would be defined as the "entity that assists an individual exercising this right..."
In 2016, the Ohio Legislature passed a measure to prohibit certain state and federal grant money from being sent to organizations to perform or promote abortion. Planned Parenthood sued in federal court and lost upon appeal. If Issue One passes and Planned Parenthood seeks grant funding from the State, the Legislature cannot deny that funding. Thus Issue One would write Planned Parenthood's provision of services into the Constitution with special protections.
For more information please see:
Planned Parenthood 2021-2022 Annual Report
Planned Parenthood Greater Ohio 2022 Annual Report