(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The Ohio Attorney General’s Office today accepted a petition seeking to add new language to the state constitution in support of an individual’s right to refuse medical services.
On June 16, the Attorney General’s Office received the written petition proposing to add Section 22 to Article 1 of the Ohio Constitution, “Medical Right to Refuse,” along with a summary of the measure, in accordance with the provisions of Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 3519.01(A).
The attorney general’s role in the petition process is to determine whether the summary is a fair and truthful representation of the proposed statute. The petition submitted was determined to have met that requirement.
Next in the process, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine whether the proposal contains a single constitutional amendment or multiple constitutional amendments. If the board certifies the proposal, the petitioners must then collect signatures from registered voters equal to at least 10% of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. In addition, those signatures must come from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties and, for each of those counties, the number must equal at least 5% of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.
If sufficient signatures are verified by the Ohio Secretary of State at least 65 days before the election, the full text of the proposed amendment shall be placed on the ballot in the next regular or general election that occurs subsequent to 125 days after the filing of such petition.
The full text of the certification letter and the petition can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Petitions.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Steve Irwin: 614-728-5417