The people of Ohio are in the process of considering an amendment to the State Constitution.  Issue One provides for the unrestricted exercise of all reproductive decisions by every individual.

The results of this amendment to the Ohio constitution would prevent any restrictions on:

• Abortion throughout pregnancy

• Gender selection abortions

• Partial-birth abortions

• Chemical castration and trans-sexual surgeries on minors

• The age at which a minor may have consensual sex with an adult

• Consensual incest or sex with an authority figure, such as a teacher or a coach

Further, Issue One shields any person or entity involved in the exercise of these reproductive decisions from any control by the government. The result would be:

• Invalidating any parental consent laws touching on abortion or transgenderism.

• Prevent any restrictions on activists attempting to influence minors to embrace sexual practices.

• Providing abortionists with immunity from any government control or oversight.

• Invalidate any restriction on the harvesting and sale of organs from aborted children.

• Invalidate any requirement for medical care for children surviving failed abortions.

• Prohibit school boards from restricting any school employee or activist from pursuing any agenda in regard to sexual issues and children.

While there are many aspects regarding public policy where faithful Christians may differ in good conscience, there are clear teachings from Scripture that should guide us. Life is a sacred gift from God. Personhood begins before birth. There is an obligation to protect the weak. And, the shedding of innocent blood is an abomination to God. Consider these Scriptures:

• Ecclesiastes 11:5: “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”• Job 31:15: “Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?”

• Psalm 139:13-16: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”

• Proverbs 6:16-17: “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.”

• Proverbs 24:11-12: “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?”

Issue One enshrines abortion in the Ohio state constitution and prevents the state from protecting children regarding any consensual sexual situation.

Christians need to be informed concerning the implications of this proposed amendment.