American Policy Roundtable
---
mma 10 23
Ahead of Ohio’s Issue 1 vote, a religious conservative group with ties to right-wing media is sowing confusion about the ballot measure
-
- On November 7, Ohioans will vote on whether to add an amendment to the state constitution that would protect the right to abortion up to the point of viability and grant the express right to make one’s own reproductive health decisions. Currently, abortion in Ohio is restricted after 22 weeks, but that could soon change as the state Supreme Court is expected to rule on the legality of a six-week ban, without exceptions for rape or incest, passed by the Ohio legislature. 19th News, [10/16/23]
- The conservative Christian legal advocacy group American Policy Roundtable has pushed misinformation about Issue 1 across different platforms as part of its “See the Language” campaign. The nonprofit touts itself as being “committed to reaching all people with the message of liberty anchored in Judeo-Christian principles.” See the Language, accessed [10/25/23; American Policy Roundtable, accessed 10/24/23]
- The American Policy Roundtable has several ties to right-wing media figures and anti-abortion media. Guests on the nonprofit’s podcast, The Public Square, have included anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson and evangelical radio host Eric Metaxas, while American Policy Roundtable’s President and CEO Dave Zanotti has appeared on Choose Life Radio and on Bob Frantz’s conservative radio program. American Policy Roundtable Vice President Rob Walgate has also guest hosted on Frantz’s program. American Policy Roundtable, *The Public Square*, [10/12/23, 1/28/20; Podchaser, 10/13/22, 6/27/22]
- Major funders of the American Policy Roundtable have also donated to other nefarious right-wing causes. Some donors of the group have also contributed to crisis pregnancy centers, the anti-LGBTQ group Focus on the Family, and the Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal organization currently challenging the FDA approval of a major abortion pill. The Jay And Linda Sedwick Foundation via ProPublica, accessed [10/23/23; Scotford Foundation via ProPublica, accessed 10/23/23; The Brocker Foundation via ProPublica, accessed 10/23/23]
- ## The American Policy Roundtable’s See the Language initiative has spread false claims about Issue 1 through multiple digital platforms and directly to voters’ mailboxes
- According to the Meta Ad Library, the American Policy Roundtable has spent at least $90,000 on advertising through its See the Language accounts since September 28. Together, these 35 ads on Facebook and Instagram have accumulated at least 3.5 million impressions. Meta Ad Library, accessed [10/26/23]
- Since the beginning of October, the American Policy Roundtable has spent at least $120,000 on Google ads related to See the Language. Google promoted 28 ads from See the Language, which were collectively viewed at least 9.9 million times. Google Ad Transparency Center, accessed [10/26/23]
- In addition to advertising on Google, See the Language has its own YouTube channel pushing misinformation about Issue 1. At least three of the videos on the channel heavily feature the anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson and have amassed 1.4 million views. YouTube, accessed [10/24/23]
- The American Policy Roundtable also sent some Ohio voters physical mailers rife with false claims regarding Issue 1. A flier sent out to various Ohio residents shows an annotated version of the proposed abortion amendment that makes outrageous claims that certain language in Issue 1 could allow “gender selection abortions,” “harvesting body parts,” “chemical castration,” “trans surgeries on minors,” and “cloning.” Cincinnati.com, [9/17/23; Reddit, 9/8/23; American Policy Roundtable, accessed 10/25/23]
- ## No, Issue 1 will not strip parental rights
- In a Meta ad, a YouTube short, and the paper flier circulated by the American Policy Roundtable, See the Language stirred fears that parents will lose their right to a say in their children’s health care decisions. The YouTube short asserted that “legislators, lawmakers, political philosophers, and parents find this language very troubling in what this would mean for parental rights and parental consent in the state of Ohio.” American Policy Roundtable, accessed [10/25/23; Meta Ad Library, accessed 10/25/23; YouTube, 9/5/23]
- According to the Ohio Capital Journal, “Attacks on parental rights do not appear in the amendment.” Constitutional law expert Tracy Thomas, who has “studied reproductive rights cases in Ohio and nationwide,” stated, “I don’t think Issue 1 would affect parent’s rights at all,” and noted that “parental rights have consistently been retained” over time. Ohio Capital Journal, [10/16/23]
- ## No, Issue 1 will not legalize “unlimited abortion”
- The American Policy Roundtable falsely asserted that Issue 1 would open the door to “unlimited abortion through all nine months” in a recent YouTube video. See the Language’s mailer similarly claimed that the amendment would allow for abortion “throughout all nine months,” while another YouTube short decried that the amendment would “lock and enshrine abortion into the state constitution for any and every reason through all nine months of pregnancy.” YouTube,[
, 9/5/23; American Policy Roundtable, accessed 10/25/23] - The ballot measure itself states that abortion “may be prohibited after fetal viability.”The Akron Beacon Journal also wrote it was a “gross misrepresentation of the amendment” to imply that the law allows “abortions up to the day before birth.” Akron Beacon Journal, [10/13/23]
- The American Policy Roundtable falsely asserted that Issue 1 would open the door to “unlimited abortion through all nine months” in a recent YouTube video. See the Language’s mailer similarly claimed that the amendment would allow for abortion “throughout all nine months,” while another YouTube short decried that the amendment would “lock and enshrine abortion into the state constitution for any and every reason through all nine months of pregnancy.” YouTube,[
- ## No, Issue 1 does not enshrine gender-affirming care in the Ohio Constitution
- Messaging from the American Policy Roundtable baselessly suggested that Issue 1 could allow for “trans surgeries on minors.” In a video that has garnered more than 1 million views, See the Language’s YouTube channel asks the question, “Are gender-altering surgeries reproductive decisions?” The ballot measure states, “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on: contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” American Policy Roundtable, accessed [10/25/23; YouTube,
] - The Associated Press cited legal experts claiming that “it’s a stretch to suggest that [reproductive decisions] also means gender-related health care.” The Ohio Capital Journal also wrote that the amendment “has nothing to do with” issues related to “puberty blockers” or gender-affirming care. The Associated Press, [10/11/23; Ohio Capital Journal, 10/23/23]
- Messaging from the American Policy Roundtable baselessly suggested that Issue 1 could allow for “trans surgeries on minors.” In a video that has garnered more than 1 million views, See the Language’s YouTube channel asks the question, “Are gender-altering surgeries reproductive decisions?” The ballot measure states, “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on: contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” American Policy Roundtable, accessed [10/25/23; YouTube,
---
ohio super maj and all const officers? recently passed law no election in aug, then 180 to jam thru prop to derail 700k sigs fall election.
2nd big midwest abortion loss after kansas
no lnx
Ohio’s GOP secretary of state brutally mocked after his amendment goes down in flames
Brad Reedand Raw Story August 09, 2023
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose put a lot of political capital on backing "Issue 1," a ballot initiative that would have raised the threshold for future ballot initiatives to succeed from 50 percent to 60 percent.
Voters in Ohio subsequently rejected the measure by 14 points -- but that didn't stop LaRose from issuing a defiant statement blaming out-of-state spending for the loss.
"We were dramatically outspent by dark money billionaires from California to New York, and the giant 'for sale' sign still hangs on Ohio's constitution," he complained. "Ohioans will see the devastating impact of this vote soon enough."
Many critics were quick to mock LaRose for his statement, including Rachel Petri, the campaign manager for Sen. Sherrod Brown, who wrote on Twitter that "you can't spell 'a loser' without 'LaRose.'"
Atlantic editor Ronald Brownstein, meanwhile, noted that LaRose's defiant statement didn't even mention the role that protecting abortion rights played in the amendment's defeat, which he said reflected Republicans' "uncertainty on how to handle abortion backlash."
Shannon Freshour, a Democrat who is running for Congress in Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) district, celebrated the win and argued LaRose got exactly what he deserved.
"It's best to fight on the side of history, of democracy, of the people," she wrote. "Thankfully Ohio understands that."
Former Democratic Ohio candidate Paul Filippelli, meanwhile, mocked LaRose's suggestion that keeping the old ballot initiative process would put Ohio's state constitution at risk.
"Frank LaRose hates the Ohio Constitution and thinks it has a "for sale" sign on it because it... allows voters to make decisions about how our state is governed," he wrote.
And Tristan Rader, a progressive city councilman from Lakewood, Ohio, gave LaRose a sarcastic "thank you" for blowing his election.
"Thank you for your incompetent leadership on all the worst issues," he wrote. "Keep it up!"
FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES
GOP tries to keep abortion rights off ballot after major losses: 'Can’t win, so they cheat' ›
'Corrupt': OH Secretary of State admits proposal would avert abortion rights after denying for months ›
RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose launches GOP Senate bid ›
---
---
court > AG 7 23
https://www.alternet.org/missouri-supreme-court-abortion-ballot/
---
rww 8 23
as Right Wing Watch reported last week, anti-choice Republican politicians in Ohio have put a democracy-limiting initiative on the ballot in August with the goal of stopping Ohio voters from passing a constitutional amendment protecting legal access to abortion.
In a desperate attempt to thwart the will of Ohio voters, who support access to legal abortion by a wide margin, anti-choice activists are trying to change the state constitution before voters can pass a constitutional amendment protecting legal access to abortion that will appear on the ballot later this year.
For over 100 years, the Ohio constitution has required a simple majority to amendment the document and in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision striking down Roe v Wade, reproductive rights advocates in Ohio gathered enough signatures to place an amendment protecting “the right to make reproductive health care decisions” on the ballot in November.
Fearing that this effort will easily pass, Republican legislators are hypocritically attempting to derail the plan by holding a special election in August on State Issue 1 that would require a 60 percent supermajority vote to amend the state’s constitution.
It is no small irony that proponents of Issue 1 argue that the current process for amending the state constitution is too easy given that Issue 1 itself requires a simple “majority yes vote … for the amendment to pass.” Terrified that voters will protect reproductive rights by passing a constitutional amendment via majority vote, anti-choice activists are seeking to commandeer the process by making the constitution harder to amend by passing a constitutional amendment via majority vote.
Right-wing anti-choice activist Janet Porter, who is based in Ohio, made it clear during a recent appearance on “Save The Nation,” a daily program hosted by Christian nationalist Jason Rapert, that her activism on behalf of passing Issue 1 is all about protecting the anti-choice legislation she has helped enact in the state.
“In 1989, I worked to pass the Woman’s Right To Know law. That’s informed consent; it had a 24 hour waiting period,” Porter said. “Then we passed a fetal homicide law. We passed parental consent. We passed the heartbeat law. [We passed] the nation’s first ban on partial-birth abortion.”
“If we don’t protect those laws with this vote by raising the bar, that means come November—if they spend enough blood money, they confuse enough voters—they can undo and wipe out every pro-life law that we have ever passed,” Porter warned. “Everything that I’ve ever done in my life in this state, it will be gone like that.”
“This is what we’re talking about,” she declared. “Protecting every law we’ve passed.”
---