Update: Ohio voters rejected the proposal that would have made it more difficult for voters to amend the state constitution. The "No to Issue 1" vote prevailed 57% to 43%, with over 3 million votes cast, according to recent accounts. The odds of abortion being enshrined as a constitutional "right" in Ohio come November just got a lot higher, although pro-lifers are vowing to continue the fight.

NORWOOD, Ohio (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pro-lifers rallied across the Buckeye State over the weekend urging voters to vote yes on Issue 1, an amendment that would help protect the state constitution and Ohio's children.

The rallies urged not just all Christians but all Ohioans to vote in favor of Issue 1 in the special election scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 8. If passed, a larger majority of Ohioans would be required for any new proposed constitutional amendments.

Currently, a 50%-plus-1 vote is required to pass any amendment in the state, but the Tuesday vote might change that to a 60% supermajority — a change many Ohioans see as protecting the integrity of the constitution.

They want to ... put dangerous standards, like eliminating parental rights, into our founding document.

Liz Kent, Captain of Church Militant's Cincinnati Resistance chapter and Board Member of the Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio, underscored the urgency of the Tuesday vote. She tells Church Militant:

It is imperative that constitutional-minded voters and Christians alike get to the polls before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 8 and vote YES on Issue 1. We have to safeguard our Ohio Constitution from the devious groups that are opposing it and pushing anti-family standards. They want to bypass the conservative state legislature and put dangerous standards, like eliminating parental rights, into our founding document. Protecting our Constitution by elevating the standards to amend it will keep the document lean and less prone to corruption. Our Constitution has been amended 161 times since 1912. It's time we rise up and protect it!

Thousands attended a rally in Norwood, Ohio, outside Cincinnati, sponsored by Catholics for Catholics in partnership with Catholic Speakers Organization. The star-studded affair featured a litany of who's who in the pro-life world, adding their heft to the outcome of Tuesday's vote:

• John Yep, CEO of Catholics for Catholics
• Joseph Strickland, bishop of the diocese of Tyler, Texas
• Abby Johnson, pro-life leader
• Jim Caviezel, Catholic actor
• Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, US Army (ret.), senior advisor of Catholics for Catholics
• Chloe Cole, 'detransitioner' and kids' advocate

Bishop Strickland, fondly known as "America's bishop," led the attendees in the recitation of the holy Rosary. He summed up the value of the rally, telling Church Militant, "The Rosary Rally was a wonderful gathering of disciples who know the splendid truth that God has revealed to us and seek to be guided by it in every facet of life."

BREAKING: Prayer Rally to Save Ohio's Children with Jim Caviezel | August 6

The outcome of the Aug. 8 vote is significant because it leads up to the Nov. 7 vote for the so-called Right to Reproduction Freedom bill, which would enshrine access to abortion in the state's constitution. Woven into the complex and vaguely worded bill are stipulations that would limit parents' rights to consent to what procedures are done on their children, including abortion and so-called gender transition.

As the Catholics for Catholics website puts it:

Issue 1 is part of a fight culminating this November over a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion in the Ohio Constitution and limit parents' legal right to consent to what procedures are done on their children; critics say the amendment would remove the parental notification requirement for minors who want to have an abortion or so-called sex-change operation.

Similar pro-life rallies were held throughout the state over the weekend, including rallies at Dayspring Church in Bowling Green, roadside in Cuyahoga County, at Summer Farm Fest in Marysville and at a morning event today in Parma with Arizona's recent gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Ohio's U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno.

Yep is urging pro-lifers across the country to pray for the Ohio elections, both on Aug. 8 and on Nov. 7. A recent survey conducted by USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University showed 58% of likely voters in Ohio support an amendment to abortion compared to 32% who oppose it.

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