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I remember sitting in my Ohio Civics/Government class, watching the clock's hands move oh, so slowly towards the bell's shrill sound signaling the end of class. What did learning about the three branches of Government have to do with the dance on Saturday after the football game? That was what was really important!
Well, I should have paid better attention because now I'm trying to understand what the upcoming August election is all about and the direct effect it will have on the election in November. Some of you may be feeling the same way.
In my last blog, I was not very clear about the August 8th vote on Issue 1. The August vote is solely about our Ohio Constitution. Ohio became the 17th State to join the Union in 1803. Ohio's Constitution was fashioned after the Constitution of the United States and is considered the bedrock of government and the framework for its structure and operations. The Ohio Constitution is designed to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens and is divided into three equal branches of Government. The Executive branch, led by the Governor, enforces the laws passed by the Legislative branch. The Judicial branch guarantees that the newly passed laws are constitutional.
Times and more change and so Amendments to the Constitution are allowed if there are sufficient votes in favor of such changes. Both the Federal Constitution and Ohio's Constitution are designed to make it difficult to make such Amendments. If laws need to be changed to meet new needs or changing cultures, the Legislative Branch is designed to propose and vote on these changes, not change the Constitution itself.
The United States Constitution was established on September 17, 1787 and has adopted 27 Amendments in 236 years. In Ohio, a state convention was held in Chillicothe in 1802 and adopted a set of laws known as the 1802 Constitution. In the 221 years since Ohio's Constitution was adopted, 172 Amendments have been added to this document! Many of these Amendments could have been handled by the Legislative Branch through the passage of new laws rather than amending Ohio's Constitution.
Since 1912, only 50% plus 1 votes are required to pass a constitutional amendment in the State. Issue 1 would raise that threshold to 60% making it more difficult to pass a new amendment. I googled Issue 1 Ohio and a page came up from the Ohio Secretary of State
that explains it very well including arguments both for and against the Issue. I encourage you to read this so you will know the facts and then to vote on August 8th.
If Issue 1 does not pass, the 50% plus 1 vote will still stand in the November election. This will make it easier for an extremely radical pro-abortion amendment to Ohio's constitution to pass that will enshrine abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, allow sex-change operations on minors without parental approval, remove conscience protection rights for medical personnel forcing them to perform or assist at abortions, as well as a whole list of other horrendous "rights" the special interest groups want. The July 5, issue of the Columbus Dispatch reported that the ACLU has poured 35 million dollars into Ohio to enshrine abortion into our Constitution. I believe this is the most important issue facing our State in many years.
Let us all work together to build up the culture of life.
Judy Welsh