Parents argue Ohio constitutional amendment will allow minors' abortions, sex changes without parental consent

Ohio is attempting to amend its state constitution to guarantee abortion in the state, but parents are concerned that the proposed amendment will upend parental rights and allow minors to receive abortions and undergo gender transitions without their consent or notification.  

The proposed amendment, titled "The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety," stipulates that every individual has the right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions, "including but not limited to" their decisions regarding contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one's own pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.

Parents point to the amendment's "loosely defined" language that prohibits any law that "directly or indirectly" would "burden" or interfere" with "reproductive decisions," which they argue would leave them out of the conversation if their child chose to pursue an abortion or sex change surgery. 

The language of the amendment was drafted by the ACLU of Ohio, who are supporting and funding its campaign, along with other out-of-state special interests like Planned Parenthood, according to local news reports. Planned Parenthood is also assisting in the signature collection process. 

In addition, a coalition of local pro-choice groups, including Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom (ORF) and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR) submitted the language of the amendment for review, which was approved in March. Now the groups supporting this amendment have until July 5 to obtain over 400,000 signatures from Ohio voters in order for the amendment to appear on the ballot in November 2023.

Protect Women Ohio (PWO), which is leading the fight against the amendment, said there is no public information on the status of the signatures, but the group is operating under the assumption that the amendment will be on the ballot in November. 

"We are going directly to voters … educating them on the intentionally broad and vague language that the ACLU and Planned Parenthood drafted," PWO Press Secretary Amy Natoce told Fox News Digital. "We are confident that once voters understand the dangers of this extreme anti-parent amendment, they will vote it down."

She said the amendment would "end debate" on future policy and "completely eliminate" the passage of any laws going forward that deal with abortion or parental consent laws.

"The exact language of the amendment says that it forbids any law that would burden or interfere with an individual's reproductive decisions," Natoce said. "We know that the ACLU in other states has argued that the word burden means parental consent, so they are now bringing that fight to Ohio."

"The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are supporting and bankrolling these efforts like they have done in other states," she added. "We know that they are going to spend tens of millions of dollars and [we] fully expect to be outspent by these out-of-state special interest groups… that really underscores the seriousness of what we're up against and the lengths that the ACLU and Planned Parenthood will go."

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PWO specifically points to comments made in February by Jessie Hill, an attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, who told local media that conflicting laws "should not be enforced," as evidence of the organization's offensive position regarding parental rights.  

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, Ohio banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, but the ban was reversed by a judge who reinstated laws permitting abortion up to about 22 weeks into pregnancy. It is unclear how the amendment would affect Ohio's existing abortion laws regarding minors if it was passed on the November 2023 ballot, but Hill made the ACLU's position clear. 

While he said some existing laws regarding abortion might remain on the books, he indicated that the current law requiring women under 18 to get parental consent or a court order before having an abortion would not stand if the amendment was passed. 

"When you pass a constitutional amendment, it doesn't just automatically erase everything and start over," Hill said. "But it would mean that laws that conflict with it cannot be enforced, should not be enforced."

PWO claims the ACLU has been taking aim at parental rights for decades, directing Ohioans to a page on its website that details the organization's opposition to parental notification when a minor chooses to have an abortion. Natoce also pointed to the ACLU's past litigation and legal stances as evidence that they have a "well-documented track record" of "fighting against parental consent." 

In 2016, the ACLU was part of a lawsuit that fought to undo parental notification laws in Alaska and in 2017, the organization said Indiana parental consent laws created an "unconstitutional undue burden on emancipated minors who do not have the consent of their parents and who wish to obtain an abortion." 

In New Hampshire, the ACLU in the state is also part of a coalition of advocacy groups that opposes legislation that would codify and expand parental rights in education into law, the Concord Monitor reported last month. 

"What this does is completely strip away any existing and future regulations that would require a minor to obtain parental consent or notification before obtaining an abortion or other reproductive procedures," Natoce said. "Right now in Ohio, minors do need to obtain parental consent before obtaining an abortion, and this amendment would completely strip that away."

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She also said it "completely strips the legislature of their ability to do their job, to legislate."

"It would just completely take this out of the hands of Ohio voters and our elected representatives who are supposed to be representing our interests," she added. "That's why this amendment is so dangerous. Once we're talking about codifying something into the state constitution, we are ending debate on it" and "making the government a co-parent in this situation."

As part of a $5 million statewide initiative headed by PWO, two separate video advertisements will air across the state, featuring concerned mothers Libby McCartney and Linda Corbitt, who detail how they believe the ACLU-backed amendment would eliminate parental notification and consent requirements. 

In one ad, Ohio mother Libby McCartney criticized the amendment for not differentiating between a minor and an adult. 

"If you as a parent want to be involved in these big decisions in your child's life, read the amendment," she warned. "You'll come to the same conclusion that this is about parental rights. It's not just about abortion like they say it is."

She slammed the ACLU for the way "it was intentionally written using broad and vague language" in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"The words 'woman' and 'adult' appear nowhere in the amendment, meaning it applies to minors," she said. "It says an 'individual' can make 'reproductive decisions including but not limited to' abortion. This means any procedure that affects reproduction is legal, even sterilization."

Ohio mother Linda Corbitt appeared in another ad condemning the amendment, calling out its drafters for using "loose language terms" like "reproductive decisions" to extend its reach beyond abortion. She told Fox News Digital that as the mother of three girls, she is "terrified" about what this amendment could do. 

"The ACLU's amendment will completely wipe out parental notification and consent laws, meaning my kids can access abortions and even sex change surgeries without my consent," she said. "I have the right to help my kids through the most important decisions of their lives - the government does not have the right to co-parent my kids."

She described the amendment as "every mom and dad's worst nightmare" because it is "a direct assault on parental rights" that will make Ohio "a safe haven for sex traffickers and predators." 

"It provides protections for anyone who 'assists' with an abortion, meaning someone could target and coerce my daughter into having an abortion without any consequences," she added. "The state is supposed to help protect my kids, not pave the way for predators."

OPRR, one of the local groups in favor of the amendment, told Fox News Digital in a statement that the ad campaign by their "opposition" is "demonstrably and totally false."

"There is absolutely nothing in our amendment that mentions or supersedes Ohio's parental consent laws," OPPR said in its statement. "Their intentionally deceptive ads are part of a multi-million-dollar disinformation campaign designed to raise unsubstantiated fears and distract from the fact that our amendment will ensure Ohioans have access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion, and preserve the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship."

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Natoce said they are "panicking" because people are paying attention and starting to ask questions about the amendment. 

"Now that they're being confronted with their own words and actions, they're completely panicking and saying, 'Oh, no, this amendment doesn't have anything to do with parental consent,' but Protect Women Ohio is going to hold them accountable to the records," she said. "We have their own words in their legal filings, their own website has an entire page dedicated to explaining how parental consent is a burden to teenagers trying to obtain abortions." 

Natoce said the drafters of the amendment used specific language that would place the amendment "under the guise of reproductive freedoms," but "would do anything but protect women and their health." Instead, she said the amendment would "remove protections for the unborn," paving the way "for painful late-term abortions up through nine months."

She also pointed out that the amendment doesn't use the words "woman" or "adult" and instead opted for the word "individual," which she perceives as intentional. 

Washington Post opinion columnist Kathleen Parker who determined that the amendment "would slyly open the door to much more" than abortion in Ohio including sex change surgery or sterilization for minors, also noticed that the word "woman" is never mentioned. 

"Why bother with such silly wordplay?" she asked. "From my reading, it’s an unsubtle hint that the amendment isn’t wholly intended to protect a woman’s right to choose."

"'Woman, you see, suggests a binary-biological identity, which discriminates against some folks and the several medical interventions that they might find desirable in achieving their chosen identities," she added. "Men can have babies, too, can’t they? Well, a transgender man with a uterus can."

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Natoce said PWO believes it is important that this amendment stops in Ohio to prevent the ACLU from enacting similar changes in other states.

"What we're seeing here is the ACLU's is track record of state by state going in and passing these extreme amendments that are an all out assault on parental rights and the health and safety regulations that are in place to protect women and the unborn," she said. "If they can do this in Ohio, which is a pro-life state, they will try to do it in other states across the country."