Chair Walters’ Dispatch Op-Ed: Vote Yes in November to Stop Ohio’s Extreme Abortion Ban from Taking Effect
September 26, 2023
Columbus, OH – Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters penned an op-ed for the Columbus Dispatch laying out the stakes of the November election and urging Ohioans to vote YES on Issue One to stop Ohio’s extreme abortion ban from taking effect. The op-ed also takes Frank LaRose to task for putting his political ambitions first and working to silence and overrule Ohioans by rewriting the November ballot language.
“LaRose put himself at the center of an August amendment designed to silence and benefit special interests and lost – suffocating his Senate campaign in the process. Now, he is doing the same thing with the November abortion amendment. LaRose is giving the finger to Ohioans.
“Here’s the simple truth: passing Issue 1 would protect our right to reproductive care in the Ohio Constitution so that our freedoms will not be up to the whims of whatever politicians are in power at the moment. Full stop. It will keep these private healthcare decisions where they belong: with women and their families. Any other talking points from the other side are just scare tactics meant to distract you from their anti-abortion agenda and their extreme total abortion ban,” writes Chair Walters.
Read the full op-ed here and more below:
- The only thing stopping a total abortion ban from taking effect in Ohio is your yes vote on Issue 1 on November 7.
- Mere hours after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade came down, out-of-touch politicians at the statehouse rushed to federal court to implement a six-week abortion ban that has no exceptions for rape, incest, or to protect the life of the woman.
- This same abortion ban forced a ten-year-old rape victim to travel to Indiana for the critical healthcare she needed in a time of crisis. It would effectively end safe abortion care in Ohio and put the lives of thousands of women across Ohio at risk. And it would make Ohio one of the most extreme states in the country on abortion, making businesses and families alike hesitant to relocate to our state.
- Now, the only way we can stop this draconian abortion ban from taking effect and stop politicians from inserting themselves into our private, personal medical decisions is to vote Yes on Issue 1 by November 7.
- We know the other side is going to try to divide and distract us with lies and misleading ads on TV, making the November election about everything except what it’s actually about: the right for Ohio women to make healthcare choices for themselves.
- They’re already pulling out all the stops, with Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Republicans on Ohio’s ballot board sneaking through misleading language for the November ballot to sow confusion among Ohio voters about what the measure actually does.
- LaRose is giving the finger to Ohioans. He’s made it clear that he is not working for us and will do whatever it takes to silence and overrule Ohioans to further his own political ambitions.
- Here’s the simple truth: passing Issue 1 would protect our right to reproductive care in the Ohio Constitution so that our freedoms will not be up to the whims of whatever politicians are in power at the moment.
- As we saw on August 8, power belongs in the hands of the people, not politicians, and on November 7, we’re going to once again send a message to the out-of-touch politicians who want to control our bodies and our medical decisions: we won’t go back.
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