You put sexy things like abortion and marijuana on the ballot, and a lot of young people come out and vote. It was a secret sauce for disaster in Ohio. I don’t know what they were thinking, but that’s why I thank goodness that most of the states in the country don’t allow you to put everything on the ballot because pure democracies are not the way to run a country.
- Rick Santorum, former Republican US Senator; Newsmax.
Sexy Issues
Sore losers? You better believe it. Rick Santorum, a former Republican Presidential candidate was just one of the Republicans who voiced shock at the success of Ohio ballot initiatives on abortion and marijuana. He blithely dismissed the historic Progressive Era of the early twentieth century: “…pure democracies are not the way to run a country.”
And who ever thought of abortion, or even weed, as sexy? Santorum is just saying the “quiet part” out loud, voicing disdain for the 57% of Ohioans who dared to stand against his Republican/Fundamental Christian orthodoxy. And Santorum isn’t the only one. Twenty-seven of the ninety-nine member Ohio House of Representatives issued a letter the day after Issue One passed and was added to the Ohio Constitution. The Ohio Right-to-Life Caucus declared:
“Unlike the language of this proposal, we want to be very clear. The vague, intentionally deceptive language of Issue 1 does not clarify the issues of life, parental consent, informed consent, or viability including in Partial Birth Abortion, but rather introduces more confusion. This initiative failed to mention a single, specific law. We will do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed based upon perception of intent. We were elected to protect the most vulnerable in our state, and we will continue that work.”
Clear Language
So let’s clear something up right now. The proposed (and now passed) Amendment to the Ohio Constitution states the following:
A. Every 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.
B. The state shall not directly or indirectly burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either:
- An individual’s voluntary exercise of this right, or
- A person or entity that assists an individual exercising that right.
Unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.
However, abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.
C. As used in this section:
- “Fetal viability” means “that point in a pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside of the uterus with reasonable measures, This is determined on a case-by-case basis”
- “State” includes any governmental entity and any political subdivision.
D. This Section is self-executing.
It all seems pretty clear to me.
Self-Executing
This isn’t the deceptive language that was the “ballot summary” provided by the “Pro-Life” Ohio Secretary of State, Frank LaRose. It’s the actual language now enshrined into the State Constitution. And at the end are the most important words (Part D) – “This section is self-executing”.
Those five words are incredibly significant. For many additions to a constitution, state or federal, there is a requirement for “enabling legislation”. For example, the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution banned intoxicating alcoholic beverages. But it was the Volstead Act, a federal law, that criminalized the manufacture, importation, or sale of alcoholic beverages.
By making the section “self-executing”, the new amendment to the Ohio Constitution requires that current law in Ohio is modified to conform with the amendment. It doesn’t require new laws to be passed, simply that the old laws are fixed. It doesn’t require a “list” of any of the “single, specific laws” that the Ohio Representatives referred to; it modifies ALL of them.
Expectations
But don’t expect that many of the extremists in the Ohio Legislature will follow the State Constitution, now the with new abortion amendment. The current legislature has a long history of ignoring the will of the people as expressed through the initiative process, and even the Ohio Supreme Court.
When a Constitutional Amendment was passed to change the redistricting process in 2018, the Republican legislature and statewide offices holders proceeded to ignore it, and continue their “Red Map” gerrymandering. It was business as usual, even when the Ohio Supreme Court weighed in against their actions.
That amendment passed with 75% approval.
Some Ohio legislators are already moving to take away the Courts right to exercise judicial review over this single portion of the Ohio Constitution.
For those of us who voted for Issue One, don’t expect that Ohio, the original home to the Right-to-Life movement (NYT), will simply accept the “will of the people”. Like Rick Santorum, they really aren’t worried about that foolishness called “democracy”. They know better.
