With House Bill 262, sponsors Beth Lear (R-Galena) and Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) want to address a pressing problem.
"Natural Family Month is to celebrate the family unit that has the ability to help fight back our declining birthrates," the latter tells AFN.
The U.S. birthrate recently fell to 1.7% – well below the needed 2.1 children per mother needed to keep the country running. This legislation highlights that marriage and creating a family is a positive goal and calls on the state to support the creation of strong, stable families for the good of Ohio's future.
Williams recognizes the benefits that intact families with married moms and dads bring to society.
"A child that is born in a single-parent household without a father being present in the home has a higher likelihood of being raised in poverty, has a higher likelihood of dropping out of school, and has a substantially higher likelihood of being sent to prison," he points out.
He says the House bill is about more than policy – it is about promoting the economic and social stability that comes from raising children in healthy, two-parent households.
"We must use every tool at our disposal to support the families that are building the next generation of Americans," he insists.
But the effort is strongly opposed by LGBT groups in the state who say it is somehow an attack on them.
"We do not see Pride Month as an attack on straight individuals, straight couples, and natural families," Rep. Williams submits. "But somehow, as soon as you try to be inclusive of what for a long time was the mainstream norm, all of a sudden you're attacking their alternative lifestyle."
House Bill 262 is awaiting a committee assignment.
