Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights – a coalition of organizations including the ACLU of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, and the abortion facility Preterm-Cleveland – recently produced a commercial urging voters to approve Issue 1, a ballot measure which would amend Ohio’s state constitution to include a so-called right to abortion. The 30-second ad features a montage of people doing various things, including a man praying in what appears to be a Catholic church.
The voiceover during the montage portion of the ad states: “When we face personal medical decisions, we depend on our doctors, our faith, our family, and the last thing we want is the government making those decisions for us.”
According to Catholic News Agency (CNA), Michelle Duffey, associate director for communications and outreach at the Ohio Catholic Conference, said “the ad ‘nearly tells the truth’ in showing a man in prayer while narrating how people depend on faith when pregnant and dealing with uncertainty.”
However, Duffey noted, “The ad describing Issue 1 dangerously misrepresents the proposed amendment and how the Catholic Church accompanies pregnant women in need… A woman can confidently rely on the Catholic Church to walk with her through pregnancy, support her material needs, and accompany her and her child after birth.”
The ad states that Issue 1 would end Ohio’s “extreme abortion ban,” which is currently enjoined, and that it “protects birth control and emergency care for miscarriages,” neither of which are illegal. It also claims the amendment “protects freedom.”
Brian Hickey, executive director of the Ohio Catholic Conference, was critical of the ad. “Ohio cannot accept a definition of freedom that perpetuates a throwaway culture of only cherishing people as long as they are useful,” he said.
“The Catholic Church has always advocated for and acted to protect the most vulnerable in society, including the indigent, migrants, and preborn children in the womb,” he continued, adding: “Ohioans deserve just laws that provide expansive resources and accompaniment to mothers and young families, not proposals like Issue 1, which does nothing to support women.”
The constant teaching of the Catholic Church since its inception has been that abortion is gravely wrong, and it penalizes those who participate in abortion with excommunication. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law … Formal cooperation in abortion constitutes a grave offense.
Using Catholic imagery to promote a pro-abortion agenda is dishonest, at the very least.
Ohio’s voters will decide the fate of Issue 1 on November 7.
