‘Radical’ Pro-Abortion Constitutional Amendment to Appear on Ohio Ballot

Language for an Ohio constitutional amendment that would heavily deregulate abortions has been approved to appear on November’s ballot.

The measure, dubbed the “Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Amendment,” was procedurally approved for the ballot by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) on Thursday.

According to a press release from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the measure would “pose a health risk to women and girls” because it would supersede laws that require women and girls to be counseled by an actual doctor with the ability to transfer them to a hospital in the case of an emergency.

In addition, Ohio would no longer require parents of minors seeking an abortion to be informed, nor to give their consent.

The amendment reads in part:

1. Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.
2. The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either an individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or a person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.
3. However, abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.

Yost made clear in a letter regarding his approval that it is his statutory duty to do so, saying, “I cannot base my determination on the wisdom or folly of a proposed amendment as a matter of public policy.”

“My personal views on abortion are publicly known,” Yost said. “In this matter, I am constrained by duty to rule upon a narrow question, not to use the authority of my office to effect a good policy, or to impede a bad one.”

“There are significant problems with the proposed amendment, and if adopted it will not end the long-running litigation on this topic, but simply transform it,” Yost concluded.

“Regardless of what your views are on abortion, everyone should be concerned about this radical ballot measure that eliminates basic health care regulations and contains no protections for women’s safety,” SBA Pro-Life America state affairs director Sue Liebel said. “It’s extremely concerning that it would take Ohio’s law on parental consent off the books and it would forbid mothers and fathers from being able to have a say or any knowledge if their daughter seeks an abortion.”

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.