Pro-life activist Janet Folger Porter to run for Ohio Senate citing legislative blockage

A long-time pro-life leader has decided to run for the Senate in the state of Ohio to challenge what she calls “the establishment” which has refused to pass the pro-life Heartbeat bill. Janet Folger Porter has been fighting abortion for over thirty years. Her leadership helped pass the first ban on the infamous partial birth abortion method. In that procedure, the abortionist delivers the preborn child up to the shoulders, he then pierces the child’s skull with a pair of medical scissors and suctions out the brain tissue, enabling the collapse of the baby’s head which kills the child. The procedure was defended by Hillary Clinton during her term as a US Senator.

It was this now illegal abortion procedure that appeared to be described by a high ranking staffer at Planned Parenthood caught on under cover video by the Center for Medical Progress who exposed their grisly baby harvesting operation. As a result, pro-lifers have called for an investigation into the potential that Planned Parenthood is violating the law.

Janet has a history of boldly speaking out and defending preborn children in the womb. But, her advocacy has not been an easy one. Over the years, Janet has made a number of enemies.  In response to the criticism, Janet said that she is not deterred by those who oppose her, telling Live Action News that, “When you spend your life standing for God’s word and His principles people don’t always say nice things about you.”

Tragically, words are not the only “ammunition” that have been used by Janet’s enemies over the years. The pro-life leader has also received numerous threats, including someone who sabotaged her vehicle. It happened in 1994 when abortion was front and center in the news much like it is today.

Janet recalled seeing smoke coming out of her car prior to a political rally for a pro-life Democrat candidate she had planned to attend. After getting out of the car she saw a line of fire from the driveway into her garage, but thankfully the fire was confined to her car engine and she was not hurt. The fire was ruled as intentionally set after someone cut her gas line and although no one was ever charged, Janet had her suspicions that she was targeted because of her pro-life activism.

“The arson investigator said the attack was deliberate. The banner headline of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Friday, May 13, 1994, read: Right to Life Leader’s car Sabotaged, Odds are it is connected to abortion issue, police say.” The sticker on the bumper read: “Abortion? Pick on someone your own size.”

Janet wrote about the incident in her book, True to Life where she published this image of her burnt out car.

Janet’s thirty years of pro-life activism began in high school where she was first convicted about abortion after she was shown a picture of an aborted baby for the first time. Today, Janet has spent the last few years working to pass the Heartbeat Bill in Ohio. This legislation works on the premise that if death is decided when a heartbeat ends, then life should be protected when the heartbeat begins. She told Live Action News that her involvement in a failed pro-life initiative in South Dakota helped birth the concept behind the Heartbeat Bill.

“The Supreme Court has said states can intervene and protect life in the womb if there is a likelihood of survival to live birth. But right now they are picking viability as their marker. Well, we have a better one. It’s called the heartbeat,” she said adding that, “Heartbeat is an indicator of life that is universally recognized across the wold, why should we ignore it when it comes to the very young?” she asked.

Janet said she is committed to protecting every preborn child in the womb, but for now, “If we can’t rescue all the children out of the burning building all at once, you carry out as many as you can – then go back for the rest,” she explained.

It was her passion to pass the Heartbeat Bill in the Ohio legislature that promoted her decision to run for state Senate. Janet said that she is hoping to unseat incumbent state Republican Senator Larry Obhof and that she is running against what she calls “the Republican establishment.” According to Janet the so-called “establishment” has “blocked the most pro-life bill to ever pass the Ohio House of Representatives, the Heartbeat Bill” which Janet calls, “our best chance to save the most lives.”

“They will tell you how pro-life they are. In fact, my opponent will claim to have a 100%n voting record. Well that is easy to do when you never vote on the most pro-life bill, the Heartbeat Bill which has the most chance to save lives,” she stated.

Janet has accused her opponent, Larry Obhof, with refusing to initiate and sign a discharge petition to bring the pro-life Heartbeat Bill to the floor for a vote. “He claimed to a local news outlet that I never asked him to sign it,” Porter said.

“So I delivered the proof: the receipt of the certified letter which I sent to him on October 21st along with the return postcard which showed that he, in fact, received it.”

Janet’s determination has brought her before Ohio lawmakers many times with several victories along the way. Janet has had plenty of experience with lawmakers. After she co-founded Students for Life in 1985 at Cleveland State University as an undergrad student she became Legislative Director of Ohio Right to Life for nearly a decade. It was in this role that Janet helped pass pro-life laws including the Woman’s Right to Know law (with a 24 hour waiting period), Parental Consent, Fetal Homicide, protection against dehydration and starvation, as well as the nation’s first ban on Partial Birth Abortion.

Janet explained to Live Action News that after asking others to run against what she calls the “obstructionist Republican establishment” she stepped up when no one responded. “If nobody else would do it, I put my own faith to action and I pulled petitions to run for the state Senate.” But, the feisty pro-life female leader said she has also launched her political campaign for the cause of liberty, “The more I think about it, we could have a lot of fun in the Ohio Senate. Instead of being on the outside begging them for their vote, we could actually take our government back! Because, you know what? It doesn’t belong to the establishment incumbents – it belongs to we the people.”

Janet said that her campaign needs a lot of prayer, support, feet on the ground and, of course plenty of contributions. Early voting in the state begins in a few months and the election will take place March 15, 2016. But, despite the uphill battle, Janet remained optimistic about her chances of winning:

“Here’s my chances with God all things are possible.”