Left-wing activists recruited singer and NBC’s The Voice host John Legend to promote an Ohio ballot measure that would enshrine abortion on demand into the state constitution.
The amendment, called Issue 1, was put forward by Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights (OURR)— a coalition comprised of far-left groups such as URGE, ACLU of Ohio, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio. The “All of Me” singer was featured in an OURR video posted to social media on Wednesday calling on Ohioans to vote on “yes” on the amendment in the name of “families” and “freedoms.”
“My fellow Ohioans, our chance to stop the government’s extreme abortion ban is on the ballot in November,” Legend said. “Issue 1 will get politicians out of personal decisions about abortion. So it’s time for us to vote yes on Issue 1 by November 7th. Early voting starts October 11th, you can vote early now. Let’s stand up for our families and our freedoms.”
The pro-abortion groups pushing the amendment have dumped significant sums into framing a “yes” vote Issue 1 as a vote “freedom,” and have invoked conservative imagery, opposition to government overreach, and mentions of “faith” and family” to convince Ohioans to support the killing of the unborn. Pro-abortion groups successfully employed a similar strategy in the 2022 midterms, when abortion was on the ballot in states like Kansas and Michigan.
But critics of the ballot measure have urgently warned that the amendment would decimate parental rights, lead to abortion throughout pregnancy, and even allow minors to pursue sex-change procedures. Members of the pro-abortion coalition have notably long campaigned to end parental involvement laws.
“Issue 1 is an all-out assault on parental rights. If passed, this dangerous initiative would abolish parental notification and consent requirements which protect minor girls from undergoing an abortion or even sex change surgery without her parents’ knowledge or involvement,” the pro-life group Ohio Right to Life posted to X last week.
Issue 1 is an all-out assault on parental rights. If passed, this dangerous initiative would abolish parental notification and consent requirements which protect minor girls from undergoing an abortion or even sex change surgery without her parents’ knowledge or involvement.… pic.twitter.com/KBicHTPtWM
— Ohio Right to Life #VoteNoInNovember (@ohiolife) October 11, 2023
Legend has a history of supporting the killing of the unborn via abortion. In May of 2022, Legend and his wide, disgraced former model Chrissy Teigen, announced that they were donating to NNAF Abortion Funds and Keep Our Clinics in response to a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overruling Roe v. Wade. Reports indicate the pair have also donated to abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
In 2019, the singer claimed that women who get pregnant in states with pro-life states are going to be “treated like a second-class citizen.” That same year, Legend rewrote Frank Loesser’s Oscar-winning song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” to include a nod to the pro-abortion argument “my body, my choice.”
Legend also once claimed while Donald Trump was president in 2016 that Planned Parenthood was “trying to protect the people from an oppressive government and from people that would want to take their rights away.”
Today, @chrissyteigen and I will be donating to @abortionfunds and @keepourclinics to help women afford and access the services they need in a safe and timely fashion. We will do what we can to fight for our fellow citizens and democracy. I hope you will too. pic.twitter.com/uEZwLQu5yn
— John Legend (@johnlegend) May 5, 2022
The language of the Ohio amendment, which was changed significantly by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), would “establish in the Constitution of the State of Ohio an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion.” It would also:
- Create legal protections for any person or entity that assists a person with receiving reproductive medical treatment, including but. Not limited to abortion;
- Prohibit the State from directly or indirectly burdening, penalizing, or prohibiting abortion before an unborn child is determined to be viable, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means;
- Grants a pregnant woman’s treating physician the authority to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether an unborn child is viable;
- Only allow the State to prohibit an abortion after an unborn child is determined by a pregnant woman’s treating physician to be viable and only id the physician does not consider the abortion necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health; and
- Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability, if, in the treating physician’s determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.
Ohio Abortion Activist Fails to Clarify Broad Wording of Issue 1 in TV Debate
The ACLU of Ohio is responsible for crafting the broad original language of the proposed abortion amendment, along with other groups such as Planned Parenthood. Left-wing fact-checkers have quickly asserted that the amendment would not impact parental rights. But when local media questioned the ACLU of Ohio about whether the language of the measure would undo parental consent and notification laws, the organization vaguely indicated that those laws would not stand if the amendment passes.
Ohio election officials are predicting the issue may drive “heavier-than normal turnout for an off-year vote,” AP reported. Ohioans will also vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana.
Early voting began last in the Ohio election and continues through election day on November 7.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.