Cleveland Right to Life is a founding member of Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio
Friday Five

Barry Sheets
Legislative Consultant
October 18, 2019


Ohio's Legislature is a breath of fresh air compared to the din of abortion-devoted Presidential candidates who debated in Ohio this week. Ohio prefers Childbirth over abortion as a State Policy; we will hopefully prefer policymakers who hold to this policy as well!
 


NEWS AND VIEWS
 
1.  As if the CNN town hall mentioned last week wasn't bad enough,  the latest Presidential candidate debate held at Otterbein University this week was a doozy. The Democratic Presidential candidates spent a great deal of time trying to out-devote their opponents when it comes to abortion support . Arguably, Senator Cory Booker may hav e  won  that contest, as he (seriously, sadly) proposed creating a "White House Office of Reproductive Freedom (being called the "Department of Abortion") to override State-level Pro-Life Laws.  Just remember, voting is important, and how we Pro-Life advocates Vote (or don't vote) can have consequences.
 
2. It was a busy week at the Ohio Statehouse.  The Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee held the second hearing on  Senate Bill 155 , the bill to give information to women seeking abortion about the possibility of reversing a chemical abortion procedure in process. I had the pleasure of  testifying  first on this bill, and was, to put it politely, interrogated by pro-abortion members of the committee arguing that since the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology nor the American Medical Association (both trade organizations, not medical standards boards) didn't recognize the therapy of using large doses of progesterone (a hormone produced during pregnancy to support the healthy development of the child), then it was "junk science" or "pseudoscience" even though over 900 procedures have been done, with a significant success rate. Their arguments didn't prevail. Next week, the pro-abortion forces will be testifying against Senate Bill 155.
 
3.  Another Pro-Life Bill, Senate Bill 208, also was heard in the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday.  Senate Bill 208, to protect children born alive after failed abortion attempts, was also given support testimony hearing. Again, I was asked to testify first on this bill. Again, pro-abortion Senators attacked the testimony, arguing there are no reports of babies being left to die by abortionists after they botch an abortion (my paraphrase). My reply: Exactly. That's why SB 208 establishes a mandatory reporting form with criminal penalties for not filing the reports. The bill is marked for opponent (read: pro-abort) testimony on Tuesday, October 22 nd .
 
4. Thursday saw the introduction of the House version of the "Ohio Fairness Act"   a bill to require businesses and other public accommodations to acquiesce to the LGBTQ agenda through the Civil Rights Commission .  It is identical in language to Senate Bill 11 , which has not moved in the Ohio Senate since the beginning of the year.  House Bill 369  is a direct attack on religious freedom, and would mandate the access of men identifying as women to be able to legally utilize women's facilities, including restrooms, changing areas, showers, shelters, etc.  Pro-Family groups have named this the "Ohio UNFairness Act" a more fitting sobriquet .  HB 369  has 39 co-sponsors-the entire House Democrat caucus of 38 members and one lone Republican as a co-lead sponsor: freshman Rep. Brett Hillyer of the 98 th  District in Tuscawaras County. It has not yet been assigned to a committee for hearings.

5. Another bill that can be of great concern regarding what is taught in Ohio schools is  Senate Bill 121 .  This bill, co-sponsored by Republican Stephanie Kunze of Columbus and Democrat Vernon Sykes of Akron, would require Ohio to adopt standards in Health Education following the national framework model proposed by the Federal Centers for Disease Control. This weaves so-called "comprehensive" (read: condom-based) sex-ed into the framework, and does not move Ohio any closer to solving any health problems among our youth (it may actually exacerbate them!). There's only one small problem: Ohio already has standards for what can be taught, especially in the sexual risk avoidance category-these have been in State Law since 2001. 
 

PROFILES
 
Each installment of the Friday Five will bring thumbnail profiles of key policymakers and committees. 
 
United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts - John Roberts became the 17 th  Chief Justice of the nation's highest court in 2005 after appointment by former President George W. Bush. During confirmation hearings, Roberts said he did not have a comprehensive jurisprudential philosophy and he did "not think beginning with an all-encompassing approach to constitutional interpretation is the best way to faithfully construe the document." Roberts has, with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, become the swing-vote on the nine-member court. He has shown this swing tendency in relation to abortion cases. Noting that he supports some restrictions, he voted with the majority in upholding the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban. However, in December 2018, Roberts (along with Justice Brett Kavanaugh) joined the court's four liberal justices in declining to hear a case brought by the states of Louisiana and Kansas to deny Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. In February 2019, Roberts sided with the court's liberal wing, in a 5-4 decision, granting a stay to temporarily block a Louisiana law requiring doctors performing abortions possess admitting privileges at a hospital near the facility providing the abortion. The stay puts that law in limbo pending further lower court review.
 
U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty -Joyce Beatty (Democrat, 3 rd  District), of Columbus, is in her fourth term. She was Senior Vice President of Outreach and Engagement at The Ohio State University and was a member in the Ohio House of Representatives for five terms. During her tenure in the Ohio House, she became the first female Democratic House Leader in Ohio's history. Beatty is a member on the House Committee on Financial Services and serves on three Subcommittees: Chairing the Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittee; a member on the Housing, Community Development & Insurance and Oversight & Investigations Subcommittees. Congresswoman Beatty is Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, a member of the Democratic Seniors Task Force, Co-Chair of the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus and Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition; Deputy Vice-Chair of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus and founder of the Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus. Beatty votes consistently pro-abortion.
 
Ohio House Agriculture & Rural Development Committee -this committee is charged with handling legislation that would impact Ohio's significant agriculture output and the ways in which Ohio's agriculture and rural areas are recognized and supported. The committee is chaired by Rep. Kyle Koehler of Clark County and consists of ten Republican members and seven Democrat members. The committee regularly meets at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday mornings. Eight bills have been assigned to this committee, including bills on Hemp Production, Animal Ownership, Animal Abuser Database, and Agricultural Tax Credits.
 
Ohio Senate Education Committee -this committee is charged with weighing the significant and voluminous legislation affecting our public and private primary and secondary schools and higher education. The committee is chaired by Republican Peggy Lehner of Dayton and consists of eight Republican and three Democrat members. They regularly meet on Tuesday mornings at 10:15 a.m. in the Senate. They have had 14 bills assigned to the committee to include bills relating to Free Speech Protections on State University campuses, Career-Tech Education, Student Security, and the aforementioned Health Education Standards Bill. 
 
NOTE : It was pointed out by a reader that perhaps the phrasing used to describe Congressman Brad Wenstrup voting record wasn't charitable. I used the term "usually" in relation to his voting on Pro-Life issues. It would be accurate to say he regularly votes Pro-Life with the exception of that one blemish: his vote on continuing funding to Planned Parenthood in the Budget Legislation under former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan when the Republicans held the House under President Trump's first two years. I hope this clarifies the record.

      The Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio is an association of metropolitan, county and local pro-life organizations. RTLACO focuses on developing and strengthening local grass roots pro-life leadership, true representative governing for the statewide organization, a commitment to a consistent and holistic pro-life standard to evaluate both policies and elected officials/candidates, and collaborative engagement to develop priorities for action.

 
Cleveland Right to Life Mission

MISSION STATEMENT

WE believe that all human beings are made in the image of the Creator and must be respected and protected from the moment of conception until natural death. We know to be true that human rights begin when human life begins, as affirmed in the Declaration of Independence.  So as to foster a culture of life we promote and defend the right to life of all innocent human beings and reject such practices as abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, and same-sex marriage that are contrary to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God".  We represent pro-life citizens from over 8 counties in the region, making our organization one of the largest pro-life organizations in the State of Ohio. We focus our efforts first and foremost at the local level to achieve local solutions and then cooperate with the state and national pro-life efforts as directed and needed.

 
Please Support our Work