Letter: Ohio constitutional amendment important step for reproductive rights
Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom await approval to put a constitutional amendment on the Ohio ballot.
To bring the amendment to voters in November, it requires more than 413,000 signatures from at least 44 of the state's 88 counties.
The measure would amend Article 1 of the Ohio Constitution to add "the right to reproduction freedom with protections for health and safety.
The amendment proposal also says the state "shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with or discriminate against" an individual exercising reproductive rights.
The main goal of the amendment is to bring reproductive decisions out of the Statehouse and place them in medical science, not in ideology.
After Roe v. Wade the state has seen various pieces of legislation proposed to regulate abortion. It's time to lift the issue out of the halls of government.
We can no longer rely on legislators and our courts to secure this freedom.
After the proposal moves through the official channels, groups can start collecting signatures.
The deadline for signature collection is July 5.
Lupe Williams, Wooster
Editor's note: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified the initial summary March 2. The next step is the Ohio Ballot Board, which will decide if the proposal is one issue or needs to be divided into separate amendments.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Signatures needed to get reproductive rights issue before Ohio voters
