Ohio doctors rally for abortion rights
Group wants to get ballot initiative to enshrine reproductive choice in state constitution
Several physicians have organized a group in Ohio to get a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
The Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, along with another group Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, sent the measure to Republican Attorney General Dave Yost on Feb. 21. Marcela Azevedo, president of the group, spoke to Repro Rights Now.
“We saw these rights being taken away and our patients being hurt,” Azevedo said. “We knew that this was going to be a medical emergency and that physicians needed to be out there on the frontlines speaking against things like this trigger ban.”
Two paths have emerged as viable ways of protecting abortion access within states that have lost or severely limited it. The first is through getting state supreme courts to declare a constitutional right to the procedure. The second is through getting ballot initiatives approved and up for a vote.
Azevedo said that a ballot initiative was likely the only path that would have worked in Ohio. From now until July, they hope to gather 700,000 signatures to get the initiative considered.
Some have expressed concern that Yost and other Republican lawmakers may try to hold it up. Azevedo said that activists shouldn’t be concerned because their role is limited.
Yost’s job is to ensure that the summary matches what the amendment says. If he finds an issue with it, he can decline the amendment.
“In Ohio, the Attorney General has never declined an issue more than two times,” Azevedo said. “And that's because when he declines it, he has to exactly tell us why he declined. So it's pretty easy for us to just go, ‘Well, then let's fix that and touch nothing else.’”
Doctors in the state by and large support abortion access, Azevedo said. One thousand doctors in Ohio joined her group within four days of its founding. Now they have 3,000.
“We all know that abortion is healthcare and that we believe our patients should have access to this,” Azevedo said.