Transcripts For CSPAN2 Ohio 20240703

Including comcast. Are you thinking this is just Security Center . Its way more than that. Comcast is partnering with 1000 commuting centers to create wifi enabled a lift zones so students from lowincome families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. Comcastupports cspan is a Public Service along with these other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. Next supporters and opponents of an ohio Bella Initiative that would amend the state constitution to codify a womans right to an abortion. The forum was organized by the ohio debate commission. A note. This fall ohio voters will decide on issue one, a citizen initiated amendment that would establish a state constitutional right to quote, make and carry out ones own reproductive decisions. Today werect going to hear the arguments for and against this measure. Welcome to decision 2023 ohio decides an issue one for him. Thank you for being here. I am curtis jackson. In partnership with the ohio debate commission, the Columbus Dispatch and the cincinnati inquirer, specter news wants to give you the voter away to learn more about state issue one ahead of the november 7 election. While answering your questions about its impact. We have representatives from the campaigns for and against the issue who willwi make the case o the voters the first im joined by Jessie Balmert to cover State Government and politics for the Columbus Dispatch and the cincinnati inquirer. Jesse thank you for being here. Thanks for have me. Before we hear from both sides of this campaign what can you tell us and what what the voters need to understand about the . So ohio issue one would enshrine access to abortion and otheriv reproductive rights in e state constitution. The state to limit abortion after a point called the viability is when a fetus can survive outside the uterus. It would be a decision made by doctors that its about 24 weeks gestation. Abortions could be performed after that if it was necessary for the Patients Health or to save the patients life. If past this and then well go into effect 30 days after election assemblers might be confused because we just voted on a state issue one and its the reverse vote this time. Before the was a new campaign and people want to get past and then yes, and that would sort of the yes, and then a no. Its a little confusing but can you explain whatex this labeling is about. Was hopefully it is equally confusing for both sides i suppose, but in august ohioans voted on issue one which wouldve made it harder to amend the state constitution. That was defeated. This a new election, a new numbering system for the constitutionalmb amendments. The statutes comes , so thn measure this issue onehi on the bella and then issue number two with the about legalizing marijuana. Abortionrightsts can be considered by some to be one of the more polarizing if that the most polarizing issue right now on the political landscape. Give us a sense from the state of ohio is handling the abortion issue network what is the law as it pertains to those rights . Yeah, so on the day that u. S. Supreme court overturned roe v. Wade, the was a law that took effect in ohio and outlaw prohibited many abortions in this state. Essentially its a doctors were not permitted to perform abortion after the activity was detected, and thats about six weeks gestation. So that was in effect put on hold. Currently the law in ohio is abortion is legal up through 21 weeks and six days and when it was in effect there was a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions. Something without a state to access them. Today the ballot ie would need to pass with a 50 plus one margin. When it comes up for a vote it would keep the current law in place. Who are the Major Players here obviously youve got the usual suspects when it comes to this issue in terms of just the people that are typically for and against but also outside theres a lot of interest. Ohio was the only state voting on Abortion Access this year. There were a number of states that passed did last year and a number of states are looking at it in the future so all eyes are on ohio on this particular issue but proponents are people like planned parenthood, American Civil Liberties union of ohio and kind of National Affiliates those longstanding reproductive rights opponents are people like your right to life groups, the Catholic Church is come out against it and Susan B Anthony foundation nationally so like you said, the kind of usual suspects. When you consider how important this entire issue is and of the level of attention ohio is going to get nationally that obviously brings up the issue of money and how much is going into these campaigns. What do we see . Theres been millions spent on both sides and i imagine its only going to ramp up as we get closer so its going to be an expensive one here in ohio. Lets give you a look at whats going to happen in terms of how you cast your vote and how the election is going to go. It started already october 11th and it goes through october 207th open weekdays from eight until five, october 30th through november 3rd open from 7 30 to 7 30 p. M. November 4th open from 8 a. M. To 4 p. M. November 5th open from one to 5 p. M. And military and overseas absentee voting begins on septeer 202nd and ends on november 7th. Absentee ballot voting by mail began october 11th and ends nomb 6th and at the polls in ohio on election day are open between the hours of 6 30 in the 7 30. Voters can find their locations he at ohio secretary of state. Gov tooitolling location. The secretary of States Office says we can expect to see the first results s after 7 30 p. M. D absentee ballots are the first to get counted. Now that youve heard of some of the background on the proposed amendment and how you can vote lets switch gears to hear from both sides of the issue joining us now are representatives from the yes and no side. For the yes campaign, desiree president and ceo of innovation ohio. She has deep roots in the community. You may have seen her on a ballot or two she ran for congress in 2020 and representing the other side, attorney, Small Business owner, spokeswoman for protect women ohio and shes also been on the ballot having run for the state representative in 2020. For the next 15 minutes we are going to hear from them as they answer your questions and questions from the two of the journalists whove been covering this issue this year. Lets take a look at the panelists joining us now. Tyler is a cowriter for the axials columbus newsletter covering news, politics and culture in central ohio and karen is the bureau chief for the state House News Bureau and reporting daily for ohios public radio stations. Thank you panelists for being here. Karen, the first question is to you and its for both candidates. Several people who submitted questions to the debate commissions portal asking for submissions were curious about parental consent and how parents rights could be affected by the amendment. The attorney general had issued a legal analyst as he asked his staff to come up with this and that he said the amendment does not specifically address parental consent and does not refer to women are pregnant women but to individuals and some say that could open the door to include minors as well so i want to ask you both how can you, can you explain how a yes or no vote would specifically address parental consent . Since the yes campaign blocked the ballot you get the first opportunity to respond. You have 90 seconds in your response in 45 seconds for the rebuttal. I am happy that this question was asked because there are so many confused voters out there because of the misinformation. The legal memo is clear there isnt any language that includes anything about children that children will still have to receive parental consent for any medical procedure. Issue one is about the extreme abortion band that is currently on the books and our ability to make medical and healthcare decisions for ourselves and removing politicians from the process. Thats what the campaign is about, making sure people can decide whats best for their healthcare and not politicians. 90 seconds, your response to the question. Im glad that question was asked we have to set the record straight. Issue one is whether you are prochoice, prolife or even somewhere in between. It is truly about protecting parental consent. Most importantly there have been Safety Standards for women. They eviscerate all of those. All we have to do is look at the is look at the state of north. They have some amendment that was passed andgr gretchen whitmr has basically said that today every law on her book is unconstitutional. So it with four hour waiting paper, the inventory care to even having somebody, Health Care Provider ask a woman you being abused at home . That is not acceptable. That is not what ohioans want today. Fortyfive seconds. When you think about children and ohio i think about the tenyearold girl who was raped and was forced to flee the state of ohio to travel to india in order to have an abortion because the extreme abortion ban that its really on the books there are no exceptions for rape, incest or even a lack of a mother. And no high winds should have to flee the state in order to Access Health care. Fortyfive seconds. So what happened to that young young girl is horrific but let me set the record straight. We have 22 week man today. There are exceptions to the life of a mother but whats most important is it issue one passes, then young women that are being trafficked hot young womene that are being raped will be able to go to a clinic without parental consent. It just happened with the soccer coach for teen girl was raped by her soccer coach in ohio. He pretended to be her father on the phone. More and more victims and predators would get away with rate. We have to protect the life of our innocent children and vote no one issue one. Lets go back to our panelists now and times you have the next question. Just a question for both and it also comes by and ohio. The amendment text states at this passes abortion could not be prohibited if the treating physician believes quote it p is necessary to protect the pregnant patients life or health. Jeff wants to know what is the word health need . Mentalal health, physical health or could even mean financial . Desiree . Thats another great question. When weno talk about health care thats between the doctor and the patient. And politicians should not be definingng health. Thats between the science and the physicians study healthcare. Every doctor will tell you every pregnancy is different. I trust doctors to make an assessment about their patient in terms of their healthcare. That is simply what this amendment is about. Its removing politicians from the process so that we can continue to access the healthcare we need with that people in columbus deciding what is best for us. Voting yes was ensure that the decision made in hospital room are between doctor and a patient. The doctor doesnt have to see her come treating his or her patient because of what a politician might say or do in columbus. How is health of defined . I dont even have to think about this. Its with the Supreme Court has said today. They have had Health Health is financial, social, mental picture at the end of the day the Supreme Court has already ruled on this. It is up to the doctor, the abortionist. They get to define what health is today and that is unacceptable. And if you want to turn to science as desiree has pointed out, 15 weeks is what science tells us is when an unborn child feels pain. So anything after that must be prohibited. We have to look at the law and the facts today. Its actually important to have a doctorpatient relationship, but more important is to make sure we have parental consent of the young girl going in, that we have the proper care and treatment for our families. Im happy my friend here said 15 weeks because the extreme abortion ban on the books is more like six weeks, and thats what people like beth and kyle had to travel out of state in order to Access Health care. Because they had a wanted pregnancy and the organ for going outside of the unknown way to continue was to have abortions i delete the state. This extreme abortion ban is six weeks. Amendments were offered in the state house to make sure it wasnt so extreme and it was rejected every single time. As a result we have an abortion ban in ohio advance Healthcare Access at six weeks. I do want to pick up on this, that a lot of people have been concerned about the lack of any exceptions. Youres response. So there are exceptions in our law today. I put aside the heartbeat built which has exceptions. I urge ohioans to be done for the life of the mother. Today we have 22 week man. That is our law in ohio but thats not what were talking about, codis. This amendment allows for full term, lateterm abortion, partialbirth abortion. The acer youou had its hand on this and want as to why didnt the defined by ability . The word the use woman . Why didnt they say at 15 weeks or 22 weeks . You wrote this amendment. I think ohioans deserve an answer. Why are we so extreme today . Why are we not protecting for an organization that is for women, what are we protecting women at our children . I want to get a 45 seconds to respond because this has been the question. Why there is no defined by billy . The current language as written includes reasonable limitations after fetal viability. What were concerned with is when patients turn to a hospital or Health Care System and have fetal abnormality or have a personal healthcare challenge, that they can access the healthcare they need. The current law on the books says no. The current law on the books requires doctors to say no, im sorry, i can help you. Fiddle to risk their medical license because they want to follow the law as written. So this is an opportunity and a yes vote is an opportunity to ensure the politicians are not making that decision for families and for couples in such a personal and private moment. Wee absolutely have protectin in our law today for women. The fact that the aclu is peddling misinformation about contraception is available in ohio, miscarriage can which is available and i can tell you i gave birth last year to my son and in between i thought i was having a miscarriage. I went to riverside hospital. They give me the proper care and thank god my son was born. But to peddle misinformation, you dont have to work for me. Go askou your doctor can do have contraceptive care, miscarriage care . We have to start on the truth. We have to protect parental consent and children. We have to vote no because our moral compass and our film is art state today. This is too extreme and radical. Governor dewine launched an ad. He studied this and said this is too radical for ohio. Lets go back to our panelists. Karen,is next question from you. Picking up on the statement about moral compass. Sherry from cleveland asks is the viewpoint of those who will not be harmed by abortion more important than the viewpoint of those probably or definitely will be harmed . The lack of complete control over the reproductive choices. Also as an atheist why must i be bound by the dictates somebody elses conscious . I want to ask that to ms. Cooke. Thank you for the question. Its really important to know thatha this amendment is not abt a womans abortion specifically. Its brought of the net. This amendment specifically as allowing for reproductive decisions here again the aclu had an opportunity to define that. Reproductive decisions mean cross hormone therapy, transgender surgeries, painful surgeries that we dont want our children to go through today. And again if you want control, then the aclu should have written a banned whether its 15 weeks, 22 weeks. So its not about what the moral compass is today. Everyone has a different moral compass for the family but i urge sherry and her family to sit down and have those tough conversations. We shouldnt have ans radical amendment that allows for any of those decisions to happen outside parental notification, outside parental control, outside a thoughtful discussion that ohio genuinely needs. We have in dayton a doctor who is performed thousands and thousands of partialbirth abortions. He is the godfather of it. That is what were trying to prevent. Congress prevented this by passing a law and guesses is number one donor in this issue is,hi its dr. Martin. He has a business but because he wants to continue performing partialbirth abortion. I urge anybody to look at this amendment. This is not just about abortion. Its about much, much more and if it was they would use the word woman and defined by billy. They did not. Ninety seconds. Issue one is about ensuring that politicians are in the hospital room with you and your partner. And unhappy you brought up dayton because those also a patient in dayton who had a wanted pregnancy unfortunately, she was diagnosed with cancer and. She needed to terminate in order to get the chemotherapy and radiation she needed to live, to live. And because of that, because of this extreme abortion ban on the books she had to leave. Can you imagine leaving home extra expenses on top of the trauma and arctic that youre dealing with because people in columbus and the statehouse whose names you dont know because youve never even votedt for them say you have to leave this decoder to access the healthier you need because we have an extreme abortion ban on the books with no exception. No exception. I want to getan a chance to rebut but this does bring up a question as a relates to representation. Because ohio Supreme Court has pointed out in previous rulings theres a lot of aggressive gerrymanderingry here. So the people making decisions in the status are not necessarily entirely at least representative of where the rest of the s state may be on the spacious but i find it interesting the Supreme Court once again asked both sides if they were okay with the maps that were presented in a bipartisan fashion, and the democrat side said they had no objection. As far as i know for the eight years we dontt have gerrymandering. Im super majority was already in place, right . To be clear. We areal talking about a situatn where you are talking about the most recent rolling. I did at the maps decide the last election were ruled unconstitutional. That might be some people out there who may be concern the votes are not being heard. I think both of being represented anything every parent, every family should know this amendment is truly about much more that abortion. It is much broader. Ad the aclu deliberately wrote a very broad amendment. You have the aclu attorneys specifically stating their vote an amendment because healthcare includes transgender surgery. When asked, is not a Single Person on the abortion industry side that will explain to us why they didnt use the word woman. This is intentional. And have to set the record straight. We have access for anybody to say that women dont have access to contraception or miscarriages or abortion at 22 weeks is flat out lying to a highlands. I think every ojai went smart enough to google that. I think you google what steps can have an w abortion at. Its has a a high winds at 22 weeks. Desiree. Antiabortion activists all across the country have introduced legislation that bans or restricts birthth control, if weve had legislators writer in ohio to mention an interest, a fun interest in banning Birth Control and miscarriage care. Issue one is about removing politicians fromg the process, predicted it is not ensuring that when youre in the hospital engined lifesaving health care or you are a survivor of rape or incest, that you can get the health care you need and you dont have to worry about a politician from the other side of the state who can interfere with that decision. That is something what this is about. Women who get pregnant and have an opportunity to have autonomy over their bodies. Lets go to our panelists for the next question. Tyler. Want to continue the conversation about the wording of this amendment because a lot of the debate surrounds the language this is a question for ms. Tim. Attorney general had the legal analysis, he said the amendment text and his words quote, provides little in the way of definitions, and he says some terms have debatable meanings rendering the interpretation much less certain going forward. Ms. Tends, do you agree or disagree with this assessment and why . I think thats an opinion by the attorney general, and the facts are the language is written in black and white and anyone can visit, read the amendment. Com and read it for yourself. The language is very clear. This amendment issue one a yes vote is about ensuring that politicians, regardless of their party or political affiliation, do not have say when you are pregnant and you need lifesaving care. They do not have say when you and your partner are making very intimate, personal and private decisions. Va the government should not be in the hospital bed with you. You, your family and her doctor, that is it. I yes vote will ensure that that remains the way things should be. Unfortunately, but now we havee an extreme abortion ban on on the books at six weeks, you cannot access abortion care after that. If we do not pass this amendment, that would be the lot of the land and we were there more stories about a tenyearold girl which the attorney general and others said didnt exist, that she made the whole story up, will continue to appear. Well hear more stories about the cancer patient. More stories about beth ann, who have wanted pregnancycy but have fetal abnormality of havel to leave the state. We will hear more stories about workingclass people needing to lead the Access Healthcare they need. Ou so with your prolife or prochoice if you believe in removing the government from those private personal moms i yi encourage you to vote yes. Ninety seconds. I went at a disagree. I think every ojai went should note that aclu wrote this amendment. It was very deliberate. And let me read to you, every individual has a right to make its own reproductive decision. They did what every woman. Individual means man, child, t could be anybody. Why didnt they use the word woman . They refuse to answer that question. Reproductive decision. What is a reproductive decision . It is something that impacts of reproduction so we could be cross gender therapy, anything. Emison poorly it does not define when an abortion is permitted versus its not. Specifically states and i will be to you, fetal viability, the point at which a pregnancy professional judgment of the patients treating physician the fetus can survive however, its determined case by case. So now youre letting the abortionist decide when viability exists. This is extreme, its a long for the term partialbirth abortion. Either way, the h of the site hs not discounted this. They continue as we as question why didnt they defined by billy . When you fordo lateterm aborti . The other side of that respond. If you vote no today you were going to be protecting our women and children. Want to go with desiree, four to five seconds. You just heard the language for yourself. My friend read it to you. There are reasonable limits after fetal viability. Fetal viability should be determined by a physician, someone whos actually studied medicine, not someone who got voted into office at the statehouse. Fetal viability, that should not be determined by any politician on thehe statehouse floor. There are reasonable limits. The language is clear. I encourage you to also read it for yourself. Read the amendment. Com. You can learn more about this amendment and why you should vote yes or if you believe politicians shouldnt be in the hospital room and deciding fetal viability and that you remain with the doctors, that encourage you to vote yes. Want to go to the statement you made about transgender issues being involved in this. The attorney general analysis doesnt necessarily agree with that perspective. Having had no, and law in place in ohio that action addresses this issue. Why does this continue to come up . He doesnt disagree either. He says the wouldbe litigation about this. Reproductive decisions should have been defined, but it wasnt and we see across the country statebystate that are targeting our young children. State of washington they just passed a lawha that allows for a child to go through life altering painful surgeries without parental involvement or notification to pick it to stay at six weeks at a safe we has been at is that what we want. Again if we want to have these indepth discussions about abortion, lets have them. With this amendment it stops all of those discussions. This amendment allows for children to be targeted this amendment allows for full term lateterm abortion, partialbirth abortion. Thats not ohioans arehe today. It is this rates are health and Safety Standards. Today onn the books if you are going through some dramatic reason for going through abortion, you have to be affiliated with an ambulatory facility. We would get rid of that. God for a bid theres an em. What does obama do . 24 hour waiting period. When i i go see my doctor did today because ive some investments practice to always keep am separate for my spouse since it is a Domestic Abuse at him . Guess what . That will notot exist anymore. What are they so antiwoman . What are so antiprotecting what is so sacred today which is our families and our youth . I dont understand it. T. They have had every, every opportunity to write a clear amendment, and it didnt. Fortyfive seconds to rebut. Yeah well, i mean, she didnt answer the question because the answer to the question would be more misinformation. Thema reality is this lens is nothing to do with trance children. I have already explained a lot of the land is that any child trying to seek medical treatment, or any procedure must have parental consent. In fact, with the language does say is says that if you are a person who is pregnant, if you and your family you in that room and you need to decide the outcome of the procedure to save your life or the fetal, the fetus is abnormal, that is a decision that can be made in the moment between you and your doctor. Lets come back to the panel. Karen, you have the next question. If issuing passes, the ban on abortion after six weeks will be a limited. The van of course is going on hold but other protection would be created creating suco contraceptive and fertility treatments. These protections arere not in state or federal law right now and some might even call them new rights. So for those people were looking at the part of the amendment and using that to make the decision, how can thosesi be guaranteed ad not left up to legal interpretation . What this amendment will allow is it will allow us to ensurere in writing and ingraind into our state constitution to bet the right to Birth Control, so we have the right to pursue treatments and i went the right to say and do what we need to over our bodies. That is what this amendment is about a yes vote will ensure that republicans or democrats whoever is in office cant take away your right to access Birth Control. They cant take away your right to access fertility treatments. I would not change my right with politicians because as you know control changes hands all the time. This is about ensuring the control is in your hands and that you can do what you need to do in order to ensure that your healthcare is prioritized. Healthcare is personal healthcare is private. Healthcare should be decision between you and your doctor and your family. No way should a politician come in and say were going to take over your Birth Control pills. Were going to take away ivf. It has been introduced another state legislatures and we think upfront it is a no for people in a while. Thats what everyone will vote yes in november because they know these rights matter in their personal and private, and politicians have no business being in the room when you make a decision. Ninety seconds. We already have contraceptive care. We already have healthcare on the books today. In fact, just yesterday doi department of Health Director wrote a letter specifically stating this is misleading, this is false information. Doctors across ohio has stayed we have protection for healthcare. We have contraceptives. Weve anything that woman needs including miscarriage treatment. So the of site is just peddling fear that is unnecessary with this amendment truly is about is more than abortion. It is about eviscerating parental consent so that our children can go through abortion without your knowledge, your consent, your notification. Legislature has spent decades ensuring that we have ambulatory care and 24hour notification, all of the protections are to serve women. In this amendment allows for partial birth fullterm, fullterm abortion. Thats not where we are today. We dont want to allow for these dont want to allow for these abortions when a 15week, which by science says, the fetus, the unborn child can feel pain. We dont want to have those types of abortions in our state and the record again is we do have abortion laws. We do have access. We have so many agencies across the country and even in our state today, 125 Pregnancy Centers that are offering Birth Control, ultrasound. Any type of care and education to help those who dont feel they have access. 45 seconds, abuttal. Ill tell you whats on the books, republicans in the state house got together in a back room. Most of these people are often men and they decided theyd ban abortion at six weeks. Once that came together. Hey, there is this exception and doctors advocated and people testified and every testimony and amendment was rejected and once that extreme abortion legislation passed through the state house, it landed on the governors desk and once it was on the governors desk, he signed it into law. And after that, people in this state had to flee to access the health care that they needed. Thats what happened and thats whats on the books, very extreme abortion ban right now. Go ahead. So the heartbeat bill is on pause, but again, whether youre prolife, pro choice or somewhere in between, im with you on this. This ballot language does not protect us. This ballot language allows for painful, late term abortions when a baby can feel pain and science tells us thats 15 weeks. It doesnt allow for parental notification or consent. So your daughter can get an abortion with a rapist, the soccer coach i shared with you, a 14yearold forced to get an abortion so the rapist could cover his crime. Whats it tell about our health standards, we need to protect women and ensure that our health and Safety Standards are on the books. This constitutional amendment will trump every state law. It will no longer exist, we will have to lawyer up and fight for our rights as women. Lets go back to the panel. The next question. Look ahead beyond november. For miss kook hio and if not, wt would you like miss cooke, do you believe this will be in ohio and what do you want to see next . I believe if issue one is a no and it prevails, there needs to be some common sense for prolife, pro choice, somewhere in between. And we had governor dewine say that and he had an ad come out and satisfied hes studied this amendment. This is much more, its radical extreme it goes further than roe v. Wade. So we need to have those hard discussions. If this language passes though, it closes the door on every single discussion, whether its parental rights, whether its Common Health and Safety Standards for our women, and it allows dr. Martin haskell, great godfather here in ohio to continue his Business Plan to continue to allow for partial birth abortions when a 15week baby can feel pain. We have to fight against this. And the prolife movement, the pro choice movement, somewhere in between movement, all agree we need common sense regulations, but to allow for abortions at this extreme state when babies can feel pain and eviscerate parental rights. Look up north in michigan, its not a hypothetical, they have gotten rid of every protection, common sense regulations not even asking women, theyre calling it unconstitutional. You want to ask a woman if she has been forced to have a child, if she has been raped. So, just look at gretchen whitmer. Thats not the type of ohio that i want to see and that ohioans want. Desiree, is this the final word . Well, for the yes side, i hope it is, i hope we have a win and that people have an opportunity to decide whats best them and their health care. Im focused on the buckeye state. Ensuring that every buckeye can access the health care they need without fleeing to another state. We see this with prescription drugs. A lot of americans flee to canada because they can afford it. That shouldnt happen. That shouldnt be case. You should be an i believe to contact your doctor down the street and they provide the health care that you need. More than 700,000 ohioans signed the petition so we can get this on the ballot because they understood how extreme the abortion ban that was passed into law and six week ban with no exception for rape, incest or the life of the mother was too extreme for ohio. Your rebuttal. Our laws on our book today specifically state there are exceptions for the life of the mother and peddling this type of fear is not acceptable. We have protections for women on the books. The reason this was on the ballot is because the a. C. L. U. Sent millions of dollars misleading ohioans, scaring ohioans through a fear tactics and ensuring that they put ads out there that said we are going to get rid of contraception, were going to get rid of miscarriage care, its not protected. The department of Health Director said were protected. The attorney general has an opinion out there. Anybody who reads this amendment can tell you today, this is far more than just abortion. This is about partial birth abortions, this is about eviscerating parental consent. Im going to ask a question on my own and start with you and then come to you with variation of it. But, we got here largely because the dobbs decision, right . Before that we had, you know, strict scrutiny in place under roe and undue burden under casey and both of these things were eviscerated with that dobbs decision. And essentially the court is saying the public should decide. If the people of ohio decide that this is where they want to go and thats following the courts order, is it not . I know that the people of ohio definitely and women will say this to you. 60 of americans want some type of access to abortion, but this isnt 60 of americans speaking here. This is the a. C. L. U. Spending millions of dollars to allow for partial birth abortion which would occur at 15 weeks or after and thats not acceptable. So, fear and the lives and peddling of information, thats misinformation on the a. C. L. U. s side and i continue to ask why wasnt there the word woman, why didnt you define reproductive rights to 15 week, 22 weeks . I mean, they had the pen on this. You had the a. C. L. U. Attorney stating parental notification is a burden. We want to allow for all Health Care Including transgender surgery. Why doesnt this say women, why doesnt it define viability and if its not about our children and about parents, adults, then why doesnt it have some type of age limit . Ill tell you a. C. L. U. Drafted similar amendment in florida and they went back and revised it and said you may require parental consent if the Legislature Passes a law because they knew not to mess with parents when it comes to our children. Im going to pose a similar question in terms a small argument from the other side here and its this, if you look at this issue internationally. If you look at it in places like germany and around the world, theyve had these debates long before, or right around the time as roe in which they decided, okay, what is going to work best, you know, for us as a country. Is that something thats missing here . Does there need to be more conversation and more opportunity for people to weigh in and say, look, we think viability should be this, or we think these things should not occur under these circumstances . Well one of the things that makes america so amazing is that we have choice and we have a say in our democracy. What this amendment is about is about allowing people to decide whats best for their bodies. When we saw you asked about dobbs v jackson. Right after dobbs occurred, the super majority in the state moved to enforce an extreme six weeks ban. As a response to that ban, more than 700,000 people signed a petition, 4,000 doctors in this state to organize to say this is too extreme for ohio, i cant do my job as a physician. What this is about is ensuring that every ohioan can make a decision for themselves, removing the government and politicians out, and thats what makes our country and state different from other countries. The people here have a say. Rebuttal. Thank you for saying that, desiree, finally, on the record. Every individual can make a decision about their bodies. Great. About you now youre just admitting that you are allowing for partial birth abortion. There needs to be a limit on that, there needs to be science told us 15 weeks. I want to tell ohioans today and make sure they know its not six weeks or partial birth abortions, these are false. We shouldnt be trapped into this. We should talk about what this amendment does which is eviscerate parental rights, takes away the ability for us to protect the life of an unborn by allowing for partial birth abortions and once we defeat this by saying no to issue one, because it goes further than roe. Lets get back to a discussion, a common sense discussion where we go. It cant be one or the other, both extremes dont work in our state. We agree to that. But to say it allows an individual to decide you made my point. Im going back to the panel, tyler. When it comes to this abortion debate its obviously very controversial and i want to ask both of you, what is something you wish that the other side better understood or appreciated about your sides position. Desiree, well start with you. I hope the other side would appreciate that the current law on the books is a sixweek extreme abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother. I want the other side to understand what its like for that cancer patient who has a wanted pregnancy and now has to flee the state of ohio in order to access Life Saving Health care. I want the other side to understand what its like to have the jelly rubbed on your belly to have that ultrasound and find out theres a fetus abnormality, right . I was the other side to understand the pain people are going through and imagine a politician walking into that hospital room and saying, i get to make that decision for you. Thats not right. This is about ensuring that in those moments of personal time, private with your family, that you can decide, you, your doctor, your spouse, whats best for you and not the politician down the street or from the other side of the state who you dont know because youve never voted for them, they dont get a say in whats best for you in your life, in your health care, and in your family. Thats what i want the other side to understand. What do you want the other side to understand . I just want the other side to be honest with ohioans. I want the other side to admit that they used the word individual when they had the pen and could have said woman. I want the other side to understand when they use the word reproductive rights it means any type of surgery, it allows for an individual which could be a child, it could be a young girl, could go through life altering painful surgeries without parental consent and i want the other side to understand that you may not agree with what the law is today, which, by the way, its 22 weeks with exceptions, lets have that discussion, but this amendment does not allow for any exceptions. This amendment specifically says one can make its own reproductive decisions, including continuing its own pregnancy. It leaves the decision to the abortionist. People like dr. Martin haskell who get to decide if at 15 weeks or greater a child can be aborted. Thats not where ohioans are today. Thats extreme. Lets get back to common sense, lets work with our legislators with our governor who has been on the record who said he has studied this and its too radical. It goes further than roe v. Wade. Ill give you 45 seconds. Yeah, you hear the other side talk about 15 weeks, 20 weeks, 22 weeks. This is not a lottery ticket. The law on the books says that six weeks is the law of the land. Abortion is banned at six weeks. If you fail to vote yes, that will continue to be the law of the land. It is so important that every single ohioans votes yes to ensure that we can push back against that law. That we can push back and say, we deserve to make the best Health Care Decisions for ourselves, not the politicians, not the other side, this is about ensurge that health care remains private, personal to you, your family and your doctor period. You shook your head there, ill give you 45 seconds. The state of ohio law, you dont have to be a torn, you can google this, its 22 weeks for Abortion Access today. So lets set the record straight. Lets stop the fear mongering, lets make sure that ohioans know its 22 weeks today. We need to stop stating a six week ban or 10 week ban, its 22 weeks. May point today were talking about science at 15 weeks a child can feel pain. Let me tell you the mocker institute, 60,000 babies are aborted yearly not because of the health of the mother or the health of the child, thats because of the decision. Lets protect lives, lets protect parental consent and safety. Back to you, and i think we might be getting to the end. This ballot features another big issue, a law legaliing recreational marijuana, expected to bring out Younger Voters and those who havent voted for a while. Im wondering, have you factored in the possible impact of issue 2 . Desiree. Weve considered more people voting which we encourage and because its a democracy and hope they exercise yes to issue one that every Single Person can access the health care they need. I think the more people who have an opportunity to get into the ballot booth and read the language, you know what, i deserve to make any own Health Care Decisions and i have access to Birth Control, i have deserve to have access miscarriage health care. I deserve to make that decision, not the politicians, so, yeah, i think ill vote yes and im excited about that fact that more people will be in the booth voting yes this november. Is issue two a factor, you think, that could determine the fate of issue one . I think we are going to have more voters and its so important, our campaign on the no side, has worked with pro choice, prolife, somewhere in between. We had over 100 acrossed state of ohio that said that this was a life and death situation, that we must vote no on issue one. So the more voters that come in and vote, the more were going to hear ohio voices, but at the end of the day we have to go back to what iss is, it is putting our women at risk if we dont vote no because we will get rid of all of our Common Sense Health and Safety Standards. It will allow for partial birth abortions when a baby can feel pain. Thats not where ohio wants to be today and eviscerates parental rights. The a. C. L. U. Has decades and decades from alaska to indiana and parental rights. Theyre calling parents like me and ohioans a burden. When did we become a burden on our children . The ohio i know is not radical, its not extreme. The governor agrees, he said this is very radical, goes above and beyond even roe v. Wade. Thats not where we need to be in our state. 45 seconds. Im a person of faith and im also a person of statistics and numbers. We know right now that black women are three times to five times more likely to die in childbirth. What we dont want is for a doctor in the middle of delivery or in the middle of assessing a pregnancy to say, you know what . I have to conifer with the politician down the street to decide what i should do next, and in fact, we want to make sure that doctors and people in the delivery room, in the hospital room, can decide whats best for the patient, so this they can provide the highest standard of care for the patient in that moment. A yes vote will ensure that you, the patient, you the Family Member can decide whats best for your health care, without conferring with politicians in the state house. 45 second rebuttal. We have to be clear and follow science today. A baby feels pain at 15 weeks, thats a standard that no doctor has pushed back on. What the other side is pushing for is partial birth abortions, which should not be allowed. Lets talk about the black community, 13 of ohioans are our black community, do you know how many abortions occur . 48 in our black community. We need to continue to provide services, information, continuing to provide support. The governor has doubled funding with this General Assembly to help Pregnancy Centers, to help Crisis Centers to sit here and talk about statistics, we need to make sure that were reaching the Common Sense Solutions so we are protecting ohioans and were protecting the life of an unborn, that were protecting our children so that a predator cant take that poor child in, the soccer coach, for an abortion without parental consent. Its unacceptable. I think weve got time for one more rebuttal. Well, i would just say the facts dont lie. Black women are dying on the table. The stats dont lie about the Health Care Disparities that exist not just in ohio, but around the country. Either way, we dont want a doctor in the middle of a crisis, a medical crisis to say, i have to confer before i decide to save my patients life. If you care about your doctor making the best decision for you, your family and your neighbors, you will vote yes because you understand how terrible that is for a doctor to pause and think about what the politicians might have to say about their life saving treatment. Okay, we have reached the point now for closing statements and since the yes campaign brought this to the ballot, you get to go first, 90 seconds. I encourage every ohioan to vote yes this november, because this is about assuring that every person has a say over their body. This about ensuring that when youre in the hospital room, when youre in the delivery room, when youre in a moment thats very personal and private, that you get to make the best decision for you. I want every voter to think about bess and kyle who had a wanted pregnancy unfortunately the organs were growing outside of the fetus and they could not access the health care they needed in columbus. Instead they had to travel out of state to get the health care they need. I want every voter to imagine the cancer patient excited about a pregnancy and then learning that she has had a diagnosis of cancer. Cancer in and of itself is traumatizing, but then you have to leave the state. If you care about common sense law, removing the government out of your personal and private business, you will vote yes this november. A yes vote will ensure that the extreme abortion ban that bans abortion at six weeks will not go back into effect because thats what the other side is not saying. As soon as this election is over, that will determine the fate of the laws in this state. Every ohioan has say over health care and the politicians in columbus have no right to interfere with that decision. Thank you very much. And now 90 seconds. Im disheartened to hear a lot of the misinformation that is spread today. I think that every single ohioan should know, this is the most extreme amendment that could go into effect if this is passed. We must vote no on issue one so we can protect parental consent. Its very important. We have the example of a soccer coach that forced his 14yearold rape victim to go get an abortion without parental consent just like pretending to be a parent. That cannot stand in our state today. Protecting the life of an unborn. This allows for abortion past viability. This allows for the abortionist to determine when to terminate a pregnancy and at 15 weeks when fetus can feel pain, thats not where ohio wants to be. To continue the state, that we have an extreme law on the book. The last time i checked 22 weeks. I urge every ohioan to look at that all you have to do, this isnt a hypothetical, look at the state up north. Michigan has passed a similar amendment and gotten rid of all of our protections for women. Theyre on the chopping block, parental rights are now considered a burden. You cant even talk to your doctor to say im in an abusive situation. Doctors wont ask those questions. This is not where we need to be with common sense. This is eviscerating and cement partial birth abortion and allow the godfather, dr. Martin haskell gave 100,000 to this campaign to continue. Thank you very much both of you for taking the time for your views and the public can make the decision. And once again, thank you to jessie and Tyler Buchanan and karen, as well as the representatives from the respective campaigns. This program was made posble by theollowing organizations, foundations, and made in partnership with Spectrum News one and cincinnati inquirer. Be sure to get out and vote for the november 7th election, thank you for making a choice. Have a good day. The house is set to return today with the intention of elect ago new speaker. Ohio representative jim jordan remains the republicans nominee, despite some opposition from members of his own party. As a result it unclear how many roundsf voting itight take for representative jordan to reach 217 votes if every member is in the chamber. You can watch on the cspan now video app or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government funded by these Television Companies and more. Including sparklight. The greatest town on earth is the place you call home. At sparklight, its our home, too. And right now were facing our greatest challenge. Thats why sparklight is working around the clock to keep you connected. Were doing our part so its easier to do yours. Sparklight supports cspan as a Public Service, along with other Television Providers. Giving you a front row seat to democracy. Following his recent trip to isra, Senate Majority leader chk schumer discussed the need for an aid package to help support israel in its war with hamas and an all senators meeting that will te place on wednesday. And reaffirming the u. S. Support to israel and no country should offer safe haven to those that aid and abet terror. Madam president , today i come before the state with a