Statehouse update with OCA President Chris Long

The 60% constitutional amendment increase proposal made news today, as Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said that his caucus is mulling whether to place the question on the ballot in a statewide August special election. Ohio voters could decide in August whether the state should increase the votes needed to amend the constitution if Senate Republicans get their way. Also, State Rep. Scott Wiggam chairs a committee in the Ohio House that is also considering the same constitutional amendment increase to 60%. 

If the legislature is able to put this on an August ballot and it passes, it will be in place for any future ballot constitutional amendment proposals. It's a race to the ballot! Planned Parenthood and its allies are currently circulating a petition to put abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy on the November ballot here in Ohio. They have until July 5th to secure the 412,500 signatures. In this program, we discuss how the Republicans have already fumbled the ball twice when it came to raising the bar for constitutional change on the ballot. 

All eyes will be on Columbus to see how they handle this one. What's at stake is thirty years of Ohio pro-life legislation in defense of the unborn in the womb.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE BROADCAST!

SPECIAL NOTE: A lawsuit has been filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, asking it to determine an error was made by the state Ballot Board last week when it cleared language for a proposed reproductive rights constitutional amendment. (The Statehouse News Bureau | By Jo Ingles

Cincinnati-area attorney Curt Hartman represents two citizens, Margaret DeBlase and John Giroux, who filed the lawsuit against the members of the Ohio Ballot Board. That panel includes Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green), Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Rep. Elliot Forhan (D-South Euclid) and William Morgan, who was appointed by majority Republicans in the House.

Hartman said the complaint filed with the high court argues the Ballot Board was wrong when it cleared the language as being one petition.

“It clearly should be separated into concepts of abortion or decisions relating to deciding where to terminate a pregnancy on the one hand versus all of these other reproductive decisions," Hartman said.

The lawsuit calls on the court to require the Ballot Board to vacate its earlier decision. It asks the court to force the board to divide the petition into individual parts then certify the approval of each of the individual petitions as containing only one proposed amendment to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who earlier had approved the summary language of the petition. Click here to follow the case...