DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Thursday afternoon that he certified the summary of the petition language for a ballot initiative titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety”.
The decision to take the step to approve the language could be just the beginning for the initiative, since Yost says it is headed to the Ohio Ballot Board. The attorney general of Ohio says with the process, a board will hear the case to review for the next steps. If the board certifies, petitioners would be able to collect select signatures.
“The proposal next moves to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine whether it contains a single constitutional amendment or more than one,” Yost said.
With the announcement, groups from across Ohio did not hold back their thoughts in opinion after the decision was announced from the Ohio Attorney General. Just a few of the groups released statements includes both a pro-choice reproductive freedom group and an anti-abortion group.
Pro-Choice Ohio
Dr. Lauren Beene, the executive director at Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Lauren Blauvelt, a spokesperson for Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom released a joint statement discussing the groups discuss their hope and next preparational steps if the language is certified.
A portion of the statement released reads:
“As the Ohio Ballot Board reviews the language to determine if it contains one amendment, we will continue our preparations to collect the signatures needed to place the issue on the 2023 General Election Ballot. As we demonstrated ten days ago when we collected a record number of signatures, our organizations, volunteers, and supporters are more than capable of accomplishing that task.”
Ohio Right to Life
The Chief Executive Officer at Ohio Right to Life, Peter Range, released a statement talking about how the group believes the certification would cause risks to some of the people of Ohio.
A portion of the group’s statement reads:
“If passed, it would cancel parental rights and measures in place to protect young girls; basic health and safety protections for women would be wiped out; and it would make Ohio home to painful late-term abortions right up until birth,” Range said.
The amendment would make an addition to Article 1 of Ohio’s State Constitution: Section 22.
