Published by Citizens for Community Values on July 24, 2020
COLUMBUS – The Ohio General Assembly is currently faced with a difficult task in deciding upon replacing the Speaker of the House. The public’s confidence in the governing of our state has been significantly shaken.
It will require choosing someone whose leadership can help restore confidence in this institution for the citizens of Ohio. There will be many arguments made for why certain individuals would make a “better” choice than others, but often these arguments are usually focused on money and electoral success. These are poor benchmarks for choosing a leader, as has been demonstrated by the reason for the current crisis.
Citizens for Community Values and pro-life and pro-family leaders across the state of Ohio believe that a different set of attributes should be forefront in the decision on electing a new Speaker. Character matters, and an elected official’s positions on life, faith and family are very strong indicators of that character and of their positions in relation to our economic and business needs as well.
That is why we respectfully offer that the individual chosen to lead Ohio’s representative body meet the following criteria:
Pro-Life:
The individual should have shown that commitment by cosponsoring and voting in favor of Ohio’s Heartbeat Law, the strongest policy commitment to life ever voted on by the Assembly.
Pro-Faith:
The individual should show their commitment to upholding religious freedoms and a commitment to one-man/one-woman marriage by their opposition to House Bill 369 and its Senate companion bill Senate Bill 11.
Pro-Freedom:
The individual should be strongly in favor of fully empowering parents with a complete range of choices for the education of their children, and, especially in light of the COVID-19 changes that have been forced upon our schools and families, to be a strong voice for ensuring that no educational option is pitted against another as adversarial choices. Our children’s – our state’s – future is in the balance.
We pray fervently for wisdom for those having to make this difficult choice, and pray also that your decisions will honor God, respect the integrity of the institution, and be in the best interest of the people of the State of Ohio, now and in the future.
Signers:
Aaron Baer, President of Citizens for Community Values
Margie Christie, Executive Director of Dayton Right to Life
Meg DeBlase, Executive Director of Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati
Linda Harvey, President of Mission America
Janet Porter, President of Faith2Action
John Stover, President of Ohio Value Voters
Lori Viars, Vice President of Warren County Right To Life
