When a group of Christians in the state of Ohio recently proposed a bill to abolish abortion, that effort was surprisingly opposed by none other than Ohio Right to Life, the leading pro-life group in the state.
Ohio GOP state Reps. Levi Dean and Johnathan Newman introduced the “Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act” on Wednesday in order to recognize preborn babies as persons that would protect “the lives of preborn persons with the same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born persons by repealing provisions that permit willful prenatal homicide or assault.”
See the following statement from Representatives Levi Dean and Johnathan Newman, the primary sponsors of Ohio’s first abolition bill in state history… **H.B. 370**, the “Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act”. May God bless this bill, and may the Church in Ohio rise up to support… pic.twitter.com/ENnZ3fk72m
— End Abortion Ohio (@EndAbortionOH) June 18, 2025
The argument behind the bill is that the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes clear that “no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Because preborn babies are persons, such protections must also apply to them.
An analysis from the Foundation to Abolish Abortion contended that “the abortion amendment in the Ohio Constitution is null and void” since the measure violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The amendment also “contradicts the Law of God, which makes clear that we shall not murder.”
While many pro-life Christians and conservatives in Ohio celebrated the proposal of the “Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act,’ the leadership of Ohio Right to Life told several local media outlets that the group opposes the measure.
Mike Gonidakis, the president of Ohio Right to Life, said in an interview with WCMH-TV, “This isn’t the right way” to end abortion, instead suggesting pregnancy center funding and adoption advocacy would be sufficient to protect preborn babies from being slaughtered.
BREAKING: @MGonidakis, the president of @OhioLife, continues his media tour against the Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act, the first bill to abolish abortion proposed in Ohio.
🎥: @NBC4i @AvaBoldizar pic.twitter.com/1pSCHGN3Z0
— Foundation to Abolish Abortion (@AbolitionistFAA) June 19, 2025
In another interview with The Columbus Dispatch, Gonidakis added that his group has “never supported criminalizing a woman for having an abortion” and “never will.” He claimed that such a move would be “completely out of bounds and inappropriate.”
Ohio Right to Life received swift backlash for opposing the measure to end abortion, including from leading pro-life pastors.
Michael Foster, the pastor of East River Church in Batavia, Ohio, warned that Ohio Right to Life is “deceiving their donors and actively working to keep abortion legal in my state.”
He added that residents who want to truly end abortion should stop supporting the group.
Please understand that @ohiolife is deceiving their donors and actively working to keep abortion legal in my state.
If you are in Ohio and want to end abortion, please stop supporting @ohiolife.
— Michael Foster (@thisisfoster) June 18, 2025
Michael Clary, the pastor of Christ the King Church outside of Cincinnati, asked why Ohio Right to Life is “opposing a bill that would ensure equal protection for preborn babies.”
He asserted that “abolishing abortion would put them out of business,” meaning that “keeping abortion legal is their best fundraising strategy.”
Why is Ohio Right to Life opposing a bill that would ensure equal protection for preborn babies?
Because abolishing abortion would put them out of business.
Keeping abortion legal is their best fundraising strategy.
Success in their stated mission must not be tolerated pic.twitter.com/ednkNJ1kct
— Michael Clary (@dmichaelclary) June 17, 2025
The trend of pro-life establishment groups opposing bills to end abortion because they could also apply criminal penalties to women who willfully murder their children is by no means new.
Texas Alliance for Life, another leading pro-life group, recently killed legislation in their state to establish equal protection for preborn babies because the measure would “criminalize abortion for women.”
March for Life Action, Students for Life, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and other groups signed a statement last year opposing the establishment of equal protection in North Dakota because they disagreed with “criminalizing or otherwise punishing women” who choose to have abortions.
Three years ago, a coalition of more than 70 state and national pro-life groups led by National Right to Life signed a letter insisting that any bill “seeking to criminalize or punish women” for willfully having abortions should not be supported. The document insisted categorically that “women are victims of abortion.”
Do you want to see abortion abolished?
There are certainly some women who are coerced into or victimized by abortion. But sadly there are plenty of others who willfully choose to kill their preborn babies.
Efforts like the “Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act” would simply treat preborn babies like all other human beings under the law, ensuring that the existing legal system protects their lives by penalizing perpetrators and vindicating victims.
The bill would not single out women for criminalization. The bill would merely criminalize the act of murdering a preborn baby, no matter who participates in that heinous act.
Ohio Right to Life has officially come out against Ohio’s Bill of Abolition — going so far as to say they will never support any bill that criminalizes all who murder a preborn child. They are openly fighting to protect the so called “right” of mothers to kill their own babies… pic.twitter.com/8hO2zWaJa4
— The_Imago_Dei_Ministry (@The_Imago_Dei) June 18, 2025
If we want to abolish abortion as a nation, we cannot allow certain groups to have special legal privileges to murder.
Rather than only regulating the circumstances around abortion or limiting the types of people who can legally induce an abortion to pregnant women, we should establish true equal protection by safeguarding preborn people with the same laws safeguarding born people.
Opposing this standard is not consistent with the belief that preborn babies are image-bearers of God, who are worth protecting.
Let’s pray that this backlash will cause Ohio Right to Life to see the logical and moral error of their ways and actually stand for the right to life.
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