Columbus — Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR), the patient-focused advocacy group that is playing a lead role in the campaign to secure passage of the Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety citizen-initiated Constitutional amendment, today released a video to put Issue 1 into a perspective that voters can easily understand. OPRR produced the video and is engaged in the campaign against Issue 1 because the proposal seeks to rig the game, silence the voice of Ohioans, undermine democracy, and enable just 41% of the voters to override the will of the majority.

The video uses the legendary annual football rivalry between The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan to illustrate that winning by one point or vote no longer counts thus doing away with well-established rules and precedent. In the video, UM is declared the winner of the “Big Game” despite being outscored 59 to 41 by the Buckeyes. The narrator then says that like OSU, voters will be cheated if the extremist politicians backing Issue 1 succeed in raising the threshold for passing Constitutional amendments from a simple majority of 50%+1 vote, the rule that has been in effect for 111 years, to a 60% supermajority.

Dr. Lauren Beene, co-founder and Executive Director of OPRR:

“The extremists backing Issue 1 have confessed: they are desperate to stop us from protecting reproductive freedom and abortion access. They know the vast majority of Ohioans support our amendment so they’re rigging the game. We won’t let them get away with this power grab.”

Dr. Marcela Azevedo, co-founder and President of OPRR:

“At its core, Issue 1, like the attack on our reproductive rights, is about one thing: power. We are engaged in a struggle to preserve our rights, our freedom, and the power to make important personal decisions free from government interference. It is a struggle we will not lose.”

The video can be viewed at ProtectChoiceOhio.com/VoteNo.

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About Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Protect Choice Ohio

Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and its grassroots network, Protect Choice Ohio is a coalition of more than 4,000 Ohio physicians, allied medical professionals, business leaders, and other non-partisan advocates who are mobilizing to ensure patients throughout Ohio have access to safe, legal, equitable, and comprehensive reproductive medical care including abortion for all Ohioans and to protect the doctor-patient relationship from government interference, so that people can make their own reproductive health care decisions.

Columbus, OH – The following statement was issued by leadership of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR) in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and the formation of OPRR:

“On June 24, 2022, what many believed would never happen, did, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Within hours, Ohio’s abortion ban was reinstated. Within days, a movement was born.

“In the days and weeks that followed, physicians across Ohio witnessed the crisis that ensued – a crisis that saw a 10-year-old girl, pregnant by her rapist, denied abortion care. A crisis that denied care to scores of pregnant girls and women – some who were choosing to end their pregnancies, and others who were desperately trying to save them, and in some cases save themselves.

“What started as a single letter to a single legislator has grown into a nonpartisan coalition of more than 4,000 health care professionals across the state who refuse to stand idly by while patients suffer and health care is criminalized.

“In Ohio, we’re fortunate to have the power of direct democracy – an option to bypass extreme politicians who insist on interfering with private health care decisions that should be between patients and their physicians.  We can let people, not politicians, set Ohio policy on reproductive health.

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the many, many people who have devoted thousands of hours to our organization and our cause, including Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, the coalition of organizations that have been at the forefront of the fight for reproductive rights for many years.  Our partnership with ORF has enabled us to circulate petitions and obtain signatures throughout the state.  We are grateful that Ohioans who live in our urban centers, suburbs, villages, and rural communities are standing with us. Like us, they want to preserve the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship and be empowered to make personal health care decisions free from government interference.

“We look forward to giving Ohioans the opportunity to restore the rights they lost when Roe was overturned.   We are thankful for the overwhelming support from Ohio voters, and we look forward to success in November.”

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About Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Protect Choice Ohio

Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and its grassroots network, Protect Choice Ohio  is a coalition of more than 4,000 Ohio physicians, allied medical professionals, business leaders and other non-partisan advocates who are mobilizing to ensure patients throughout Ohio have access to safe, legal, equitable, and comprehensive reproductive medical care including abortion for all Ohioans and to protect the doctor-patient relationship from government interference, so that people can make their own reproductive health care decisions.