A group of more than 100 black pastors in Ohio recently released a letter calling on voters to reject a pro-abortion November ballot measure that would enshrine abortion access in the state Constitution.
The measure is known as Ohio Issue 1, “Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative.” It would establish a state constitutional right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including abortion, and allow the state to restrict abortion after fetal viability, except when “necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health,” according to Ballotpedia.
“As Black faith and community leaders across Ohio who are called to care for God’s people, we urge our fellow Christians, the Black community, and all Ohioans who believe in the inherent value of every person to vote NO on Issue 1 this November,” the letter read.
“This is not a party-line vote, nor is Issue 1 a Republican or Democrat issue. This is a moral issue and for the Black community in particular, it is a life-or-death matter. Only 13 percent of Ohio’s population is Black, yet 48 percent of abortions undergone by residents of our state are performed on Black women – a tragic and difficult reality that our community cannot ignore,” the letter continued citing a newly released report from the Ohio Department of Health.
The pastors also pointed out the black community has historically been targeted by abortion providers like Margaret Sanger, the founder of the American Birth Control League which later became Planned Parenthood.
“The Black community has been the target of the abortion industry for decades, beginning with the deplorable ideology of racist eugenicist Margaret Sanger, whose Planned Parenthood organization purposefully established abortion mills in minority neighborhoods and targeted
our communities for abortions. Sanger’s mission was to kill Black babies before they entered the world, and Planned Parenthood and the for-profit abortion industry have allowed that mission to continue to this very day,” the letter continued.
In her own words, Sanger strived for a society that limited births to those she deemed fit to have children.
“I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practical; delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things, just marked when they’re born. That to me is the greatest sin–that people can–can commit,” Sanger told Mike Wallace during a 1957 interview.
Planned Parenthood finally denounced Sanger’s racist views during the Black Lives Matter protests in July of 2020.
Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson told CBN News at the time that those inside the abortion industry are trained to overlook Sanger’s racist views.
“They gave you an answer like, ‘Well, I mean yes Margaret Sanger was a racist but everybody was a racist back then.’ You accept it because she is your hero and she has to be your hero and you cannot question Planned Parenthood,” Johnson said.
The pro-life group Protect Women Ohio released a video on Thursday in which Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr. asked his audience at the Columbus Christian Center in Columbus, Ohio last month, “What is the No. 1 killer of us? It’s not the police, It’s abortion.”
On the other side, Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights said in a statement in July that the amendment to the state constitution is needed, so “Ohioans will never again be subject to draconian reproductive health care policies imposed by extremists.”
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Meanwhile, Mary Margaret Olohan, a senior reporter with The Daily Signal, posted a video on Friday of Students for Life marching for the unborn in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
The video shows thousands of people marching behind a large banner that reads, “The Future Is Anti-Abortion” as some of the marchers chanted, “We are the pro-life generation and we will abolish abortion.”
Ohioans march for the unborn! pic.twitter.com/a0KP535g6V
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 6, 2023
According to The Daily Signal, between 5,000 and 6,000 people participated in the rally.
Currently, abortion is legal in Ohio for up to 21 weeks and six days of pregnancy.
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