Voters check-in at a polling location on November 7, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. 2023 Ohio Issue 1, officially titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.” / Photo credit: Andrew Spear/Getty Images)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 7, 2023 / 21:28 pm (CNA).
Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot referendum that adds a new right to “reproductive freedom,” including abortion and contraception, to the state constitution on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
With 59% of the vote tallied, nearly 56% of voters selected “yes” for the adoption of Issue 1, in contrast to only 44% who chose “no.”
The amendment, which will be effective 30 days after its adoption, adds a new section to the Ohio Bill of Rights in the constitution, which guarantees that “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decision,” including, but not limited to “abortion.”
Although the amendment’s language allows the state to impose some restrictions “after fetal viability,” the amendment does not establish a clear cutoff for when viability occurs. A preborn child normally reaches viability, which is the ability to survive outside the womb, at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. However, the amendment allows viability to be determined by the mother’s treating physician, which is often the abortionist, on a “case-by-case basis.”
The state can adopt laws that prohibit abortion after “viability,” except for cases when the mother’s “life or health” is at risk, according to the amendment. The word “health” is not defined in the amendment, so whether this would apply to only physical health, or whether it would include mental health or financial or social wellbeing is unclear. Similar to viability, “health” is determined by the mother’s treating physician, which is often the abortionist.
Per the amendment, the state cannot “directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against” anyone who exercises these rights to “reproductive freedom.” It also prohibits impeding on any “person or entity” who assists in an individual exercising these rights. The only exception to this is when the state uses the “least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health.”
Current Ohio law allows abortion up to 22 weeks, which will change when the amendment goes into effect. The state briefly had a 6-week abortion ban on the books after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which was blocked by a federal judge in October 2022 and is now before the Ohio Supreme Court.
The Ohio Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, strongly opposed the amendment. The “no” campaign also received financial backing from both the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, and the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio.
“This amendment could harm women by eliminating safety regulations on abortion clinics in Ohio, harm families by removing the rights of parents to consent to abortion or other reproductive decisions of their minor children, and enable the abortion of preborn children in the womb up to nine months,” Archbishop Schnurr said.
In addition to adding a constitutional right to abortion, the amendment will guarantee a right to contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing one’s own pregnancy. The rights, however, are “not limited to” the reproductive decisions expressly mentioned in the language, according to the amendment.
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Jacob Matham’s portrait of Leo XI, who reigned April 1-27, 1605. / public domain
Denver Newsroom, Sep 18, 2022 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
Blessed John Paul I did not serve as Roman Pontiff for long, but 10 other popes had shorter pontificates than he did. Their stories are a microcosm of the history of the papacy. Some were friends of saints and worked for the good of the Church, while the qualifications of others might be a bit questionable. Through all these more or less flawed men who sat in the Chair of Peter, the Catholic Church teaches that the connection to St. Peter and his profession of faith in Christ endures.
Urban VII was pope for 13 days, Sept. 15–27, 1590.
He was born Giambattista Castagna at Rome, the home city of his mother. His father was of Genoan nobility. His uncle was a cardinal, whom he served at points during his long career in the Church. He held doctorates in civil and canon law.
Castagna worked in government and diplomacy on behalf of the papacy, which at the time held civil power over parts of Italy. He led several commissions during the Council of Trent and helped organize the military alliance against the Ottoman Empire, according to the New Catholic Encyclopedia. He was appointed archbishop in 1553 and became a cardinal in 1583.
He had a reputation for genuine piety, intelligence, and ability to govern.
Jacopino del Conte’s portrait (c. 1590) of Urban VII. public domain
After his election as pope, he made sure to address the needs of the poor in Rome. His initial plans included expanded public works to employ the poor.
As God’s providence allowed, he did not have time to do much more than plan. He died of malaria at the age of 69. In his will, he left his personal fortune to support poor girls.
Celestine IV reigned for 15 days, Oct. 25–Nov. 10, 1241.
The future pope was born Goffredo da Castiglione in Milan. He spent time with the Cistercian religious order and was a cardinal bishop of Sabina. He was a nephew of Pope Urban III. He was already in poor health when he was elected, at a time when the papacy was a center of political conflict between backers and opponents of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.
Boniface VI reigned for 16 days, April 11–26, 896.
He was born in Rome. Not much is known about this pope, though records indicate that during his life he was canonically deprived of holy orders on two occasions: the first time as a subdeacon, and the second as a priest. His irregular past caused controversy over his election, the New Catholic Encyclopedia says.
Theodore II reigned for 20 days in December 897.
Another little-known pope, it is said that his clergy loved him, that he loved peace, and that he lived a life of chastity and charity to the poor. He came to power soon after a low point of the papacy. Pope Theodore annulled the acts of the “Cadaver Synod,” which had put on trial the corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus. He recovered the dead Roman Pontiff’s body from the River Tiber and gave it a proper burial. He also reinstated clergy who had been forced to resign.
Sisinnius was pope for 21 days, Jan. 15–Feb. 4, 708.
This pope was born in Syria. His health troubles included disabling arthritis, and he was unable to feed himself. The papacy was responsible for the military defense of Rome at this time, with Lombards invading from the north of Italy and Muslim armies advancing from the south. Sisinnius ordered the walls of Rome to be reinforced as his first act, the New Catholic Encyclopedia says. Before he died, Pope Sisinnius ordained one priest and consecrated a bishop for Corsica.
Marcellus II was pope for about 22 days in April and May, 1555.
He was born Marcello Cervini, at Montefano in Tuscany. Like the sainted Pope Marcellus of the fourth century, he kept his baptismal name as his papal name.
His father worked under several pontificates as a scribe and secretary.
Before Cervini was elected pope he served various roles as a secretary to popes and cardinals, including work to correct the Julian calendar. He was actively engaged with the “New Learning” of Renaissance humanism. He served as protector of the Vatican Library and helped improve and expand its collection. Cervini served the Vatican at the time of its response to the Protestant Reformation. He was a president at the Council of Trent, which continued through his short pontificate.
He gained a reputation as a Church reformer and had hoped to pursue this path during his papacy. He was not consecrated a bishop until the day after he was elected pope.
Pope Marcellus reputedly became sick from overwork during the celebrations of Holy Week and Easter, and the illness turned fatal.
The Missa Papae Marcelli of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was composed in his honor.
Damasus II reigned for 24 days in July and August, 1048.
This pontiff was named Poppo. He was born in Bavaria and was of German extraction. He served as Bishop of Brixen in Tyrol, in what is now western Austria.
Popes at the time could be nominated in an unusual manner. Pope Damasus II was named by Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. The pope, however, soon died of malaria.
Pius III was pope for 27 calendar days, Sept. 22–Oct. 18, 1503.
He was born Francesco Todeschini in Siena. He was the nephew of Pope Pius II, a famous Renaissance-era pope. His uncle took him into his household and became his patron, allowing the young man to add the pontiff’s family name Piccolomini to his own last name.
Francesco studied canon law. His uncle named him to become administrator of the Archdiocese of Siena and later made him a cardinal-deacon.
The future Roman Pontiff had a reputation of living an upright life as a cultured, gentle man, the New Catholic Encyclopedia reports. He took part in several conclaves of his time, including that which elected Alexander VI.
His service to the papacy included several diplomatic appointments to Germany, France, and Perugia.
Francesco’s own papal election took place amid ruling Italian families’ disputes over control of Rome and included an unsuccessful power play by the Borgia family.
Pius III was known to be in poor health. At the time of the papal coronation he was already suffering from a diseased leg, which developed into a septic ulcer. He died at the age of 64.
Leo XI was pope for 27 days, from April 1–27, 1605.
The Florentine-born Alessandro de Medici was a member of the famous Medici family. He was grand-nephew to Pope Leo X. He sought to become a priest from an early age, but because his mother objected he was not ordained until after she died, according to the New Catholic Encyclopedia. He served as an ambassador to Rome on behalf of Tuscany, before he began to advance in the Church. He would eventually become a bishop, then archbishop of Florence, before being named a cardinal.
He served as a papal legate to France and was head of the Congregation of Bishops.
Among his great friends was St. Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians.
He was elected pope at the age of 69 and became sick almost immediately.
Benedict V served as pope for 33 days, May 22–June 23, 964.
He was born in Rome and had a reputation for great learning.
He reigned at a time of great turmoil in the Church. Holy Roman Emperor Otto I had interfered with the pontificates of his predecessors. The emperor had forcibly deposed a pope and installed his own nominee on the See of Peter. There were rival claimants to the papacy under Benedict V and Otto again interfered, laying siege to Rome and taking the pope away from Rome by force. Benedict either renounced the papacy or was forcibly deposed. He lived in exile in Hamburg for another year.
John Paul I served as Roman Pontiff from Aug. 26–Sept. 28, 1978, 33 calendar days.
His beatification on Sept. 4 renewed attention to his life. He had a reputation for humility and for teaching the faith in an understandable way.
The future John Paul I took part in the Second Vatican Council and was named patriarch of Venice.
As a cardinal, Luciani published a collection of “open letters” to historic figures, saints, famous writers, and fictional characters. The book, “Illustrissimi,” included letters to Jesus, King David, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Christopher Marlowe, as well as Pinocchio and Figaro, the barber of Seville.
He was the first pope to have two names. He took his papal name from his immediate predecessors, Sts. John XXIII and Paul VI.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matalgalpa, Nicaragua. / Credit: Archdiocese of Managua
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2 Comments
After the Dobbs Decision, red state legislators crafted abortion laws so extreme that doctors were afraid to treat patients having miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, unless they were septic and near death. Some of the more extreme religious right wanted to throw women who have had abortions into prison. Some extremists wanted to ban contraception. The people do not want this. Perhaps some moderation would be in order?
After the Dobbs Decision, red state legislators crafted abortion laws so extreme that doctors were afraid to treat patients having miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, unless they were septic and near death. Some of the more extreme religious right wanted to throw women who have had abortions into prison. Some extremists wanted to ban contraception. The people do not want this. Perhaps some moderation would be in order?
Did anyone seriously expect a different outcome? Prolife effort does not beat pro-death money.