Ohio: 2 Constitutional Amendments, 1 on “Equal Rights”, 1 Pro-Same-Sex Marriage

• Provide that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the State of Ohio or its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed or religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression regardless of sex assigned at birth, pregnancy status, genetic information, disease status, age, disability, recovery status, familial status, ancestry, national origin, or military and veteran status.
• Prohibit the state and its political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing any law, statute, or regulation that abridges or denies the rights of individuals on any of the grounds listed above, including but not limited to rights in education, employment, housing, healthcare services and health insurance, public spaces and accommodations, state records, and legal identification.
• Provide that no provision in the section shall be interpreted or applied in a way that prevents the adoption or implementation of measures intended to provide equality of treatment and opportunity for members of groups which are commonly marginalized or have historically been subject to discrimination.
• Provide that the section shall be self-executing and be liberally construed in favor of its purpose, and that if any part is held invalid, the remainder shall continue in full force and effect.”

• Permit abortion on demand and up to birth.
  • While Ohio’s Constitution already has a “right” to abortion up to the point of viability and beyond in cases where the mother’s health is at risk, the ERA, by stating no law can abridge or deny rights on account of “pregnancy status,” would expand this to allow abortion up to birth for virtually any reason. For example: even if the “status” of the pregnancy is 37, 38, 39 weeks, that would not be a permissible reason to abridge or deny the “right” to an abortion.
• Place the health and safety of woman at risk as no law would be allowed to “abridge” the right to make decisions on healthcare, including abortion.
  • Specifically, while current constitutional language allows the state to interfere with or burden the “right” to abortion if it can demonstrate “that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual's health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care,” this exception is not found in the ERA language, meaning critical health and safety measures would not be allowed, such as coercion detection measures.
• Enshrine same-sex marriage in constitutional law, effectively nullifying the current constitutional provision defining marriage between one man and one woman by stating no law can abridge or deny rights on account of “sexual orientation.”
• Create a “right” to transgender affirming “care,” including for minors (as “health care services” are not defined, they could include mutilating surgeries and sex-rejecting “treatments;” furthermore, “individuals” would include minors — indeed this is the intent).
• Threaten parental rights, given it may:
  • Prohibit parental consent or notification requirements for minors seeking abortion or transgender mutilating “care” (as there are no explicit references to limitations based on age).
  • Place parents at risk of losing custody of their minor child if they do not agree with their child's decision to socially and/or medically reject their sex (“transition genders”).
• Give biological males identifying as female would the “right” to access female-only facilities (bathrooms, locker rooms, etc.) at restaurants, stores, gyms, and other businesses open to the public (based on language that states the “rights” of “individuals” in “public spaces and accommodations” cannot be abridged based on gender identity or expression).
• Give biological males identifying as female the “right” to participate in female sports.
• Permit infanticide by neglect as requiring life-saving medical care to be on hand and provided to any baby born alive as a result of a failed abortion could be considered to “abridge” ones “right” to an abortion.
• May lead to taxpayer funded abortion.
• Further entrench the current constitutional “right” to fertility treatments, like IVF (as “health care services” are not defined they are likely to include fertility treatments, which cannot be abridged based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disease status).
• May also infringe on the freedoms of religion and speech given there are no conscience protections outlined. For example, as abortion, gender “transitions,” and same sex marriage would be constitutional “rights”:
  • A clergyman may be required to perform a same-sex marriage, or prohibited from providing counselling to gender-confused individuals.
  • Medical professionals may be compelled to prescribe puberty-blockers or perform abortions against sincerely held religious beliefs.