Chair Walters: Judge Shanahan Broke Her Own Rules, Made Her Anti-Abortion Views Crystal Clear
March 6, 2024
Ohio Can Protect Fundamental Freedoms This Year, Flip its Supreme Court
Columbus, OH – In case you missed it, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters penned an op-ed for Cincinnati.com taking Judge Megan Shanahan to task for making her anti-abortion views crystal clear as she runs for the Ohio Supreme Court. Judge Megan Shanahan has taken to social media to brag about her endorsements from the very same anti-abortion groups who led the opposition against Issue 1 − Cincinnati Right to Life and Centers for Christian Virtue. With Issue 1 and other abortion rights questions set to come before the court in the near future, Ohioans can’t afford another political actor like Shanahan on the State’s highest court.
“She’s (Shanahan) ‘proud’ to be endorsed by anti-abortion groups that support her campaigns, financially and otherwise, and who continue working to try to ban abortion in Ohio. She’s shown her political prejudice. She clearly can’t be trusted to be fair and impartial. And she belongs nowhere near the Ohio Supreme Court,” writes Chair Walters.
Ohio is the only state in the country with the opportunity to flip its state supreme court this year. And while abortion rights are clearly on the ballot in 2024, it’s not the only issue that will likely come before the supreme court. Redistricting reform, voters’ access to the ballot and marijuana legalization are all critical issues that will likely be decided by the court Ohioans elect this November.
Read more from Chair Walters’ op-ed HERE and below:
- Last November, Ohioans went to the polls and overwhelmingly voted to protect abortion rights. Voters made clear to out-of-touch Republican politicians that they didn’t want the government interfering in personal, private medical decisions that should be made between a woman and her doctor. Thankfully, Issue 1 passed by wide bipartisan margins, enshrining reproductive rights in Ohio’s Constitution.
- We know that extremists in our GOP-gerrymandered legislature are going to pass bills that are anti-abortion and anti-women in an effort to achieve their long-standing goal of banning abortion in Ohio. And when we fight back, the last line of defense will be the Ohio Supreme Court. Unfortunately, one of the candidates running as a Republican has already made her views on the issue crystal clear.
- Judge Megan Shanahan has taken to social media to brag about her endorsements from the very same anti-abortion groups who led the opposition against Issue 1 − Cincinnati Right to Life and Centers for Christian Virtue. Judge Shanahan once admonished another judge for sharing her opinions on a political issue when she was running for office, writing: “What’s not fine, is having strongly formed opinions about how cases should be decided before they reach your courtroom.”
- Shanahan has broken her own rules. She’s “proud” to be endorsed by anti-abortion groups that support her campaigns, financially and otherwise, and who continue working to try to ban abortion in Ohio. She’s shown her political prejudice. She clearly can’t be trusted to be fair and impartial. And she belongs nowhere near the Ohio Supreme Court.
- Time and again, the current GOP majority on the Ohio Supreme Court has shown they’re willing to put politics over people. If we don’t flip the court this year, extremists in the state legislature will continue to pass out-of-touch policies that move our state backward yet are rubber-stamped by Republicans on the Supreme Court looking out for their political allies.
- Ohioans deserve a court that is fair, impartial and follows the rule of law, not partisans that look out for their donors and political allies at the expense of Ohio families. This November, let’s reject Republican radicalism and put people over politics by reelecting Justice Michael Donnelly and Justice Melody Stewart and electing Judge Lisa Forbes to the Ohio Supreme Court.
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