Ohio Right to Life is an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

group based in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. It was established in 1967 by Jack Willke and his wife, Barbara. Its president is Michael Gonidakis, who Ohio Governor

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

appointed to the state medical board in 2012.

Activities

Ohio Right to Life was established in 1967 by Jack Willke and his wife, Barbara. It was incorporated as the Ohio Right to Life Society Inc., with its main offices located in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, shortly before a state abortion law change was approved by the Ohio House Health and Welfare Committee. The organization has drawn criticism from other anti-abortion groups for not supporting

six-week abortion ban A six-week abortion ban, also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents, is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age (two weeks after a woman's first missed period), which is when propon ...

s, which it considers to be too drastic a challenge to ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

''. Instead, they favor "chipping away" at ''Roe'' incrementally, beginning with laws banning abortion after 20 weeks' gestation. In 2011, the organization and the Catholic Conference of Ohio opposed a "

fetal heartbeat bill A six-week abortion ban, also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents, is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age (two weeks after a woman's first missed period), which is when propone ...

", ''HB 125'', introduced in the legislature in 2011. Because of its opposition to six-week abortion bans, Willke himself criticized the organization that year, saying, "...after nearly 40 years of abortion on demand, it's time to take a bold step forward." In 2017, the organization attempted to lobby the Ohio state legislature to ban

dilation and evacuation Dilation and evacuation (D&E) or dilatation and evacuation (British English) is the dilation of the cervix and surgical evacuation of the uterus (potentially including the fetus, placenta and other tissue) after the first trimester of pregnancy. I ...

, a procedure primarily used for second trimester abortions. The suggested ban would not have made exceptions for rape and incest. The suggested ban would have allowed the procedure in cases where it would save the life of the mother or allowed the procedure for miscarriages.

Leadership

Ohio Right to Life's president is Michael Gonidakis, who was appointed to the state medical board in 2012 by Governor

. Peter Range is executive director as of 2023.

References

External links

*
Ohio Right to Life
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

Organizations based in Columbus, Ohio Organizations established in 1967 1967 establishments in Ohio Anti-abortion organizations in the United States {{Abortion-stub