Grammy Award-winning, iconic Christian musician Michael W. Smith urged voters in Ohio to vote “no” on the state’s Issue 1 at the ballot box Tuesday (Nov. 7).
According to Ballotpedia, if Ohio’s Issue 1: Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative is passed, it will amend the Ohio Constitution to:
Establish a state constitutional right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to” decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing pregnancy, and allow the state to restrict abortion after fetal viability, except when “necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.”
Ohio Right To Life calls Issue 1 “the most dangerous ballot initiative in Ohio history” and says that if it passes it:
Would allow for painful late-term abortion in Ohio through all nine months of pregnancy. It would eliminate parental rights, meaning a parent would not even be notified if their minor child was considering an abortion or any other ‘reproductive decision.’ And it would eliminate health and safety standards for women in our state.
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Michael W. Smith’s message to Ohioans was shared on social media by Protect Women Ohio, a “coalition of concerned family and life leaders, parents, health and medical experts, and faith leaders in Ohio focused on ensuring that radical out-of-state organizations aren’t able to rewrite our constitution to give Ohio one of the most extreme abortion laws in the country.”
“This is not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.”
Grammy Award winning musician Michael W. Smith lays out why Ohio voters should reject Issue 1 on Tuesday.
Vote NO on Issue 1! pic.twitter.com/ixQO4P9rn3
— Protect Women Ohio (@ProtectWomenOH) November 4, 2023
The 45-time Dove Award-winner, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, shared that he just recently became aware of Ohio’s Issue 1 and the implications it could have regarding unborn children if it is passed.
“I found out about this critical vote to amend your state constitution regarding abortion taking place on Nov. 7,” Smith said. “In my view, everyone, this is not a political issue. It’s a moral issue. One that deserves much attention from Christian voters in Ohio.”