Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights announced Monday afternoon that they plan to file a lawsuit Monday asking the Ohio Supreme Court either to order the ballot board to use the
full text of the amendment on ballots this November, or to “correct blatant inaccuracies.”
“The summary that was adopted by the Ballot Board is intentionally misleading and fails to meet the standards required by Ohio law,” said OURR’s Lauren Blauvelt in a statement announcing the move.
The
board met on Aug. 24 to consider what language would show up on the ballot with regard to Issue 1, the reproductive rights amendment, and Issue 2, with regard to recreational marijuana.
During the meeting, no testimony was presented on the reproductive rights amendment, but the board spent some time debating
a summary written by “staff,” according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (also the chair of the ballot board), though he also said he “worked extensively on drafting this.”
The summary makes changes abortions rights advocates say alter the language in a biased way, such as using “unborn child” rather than the medically accurate term “fetus,” and changing “pregnant patient” to “pregnant woman.”
It also removes a list of procedures and medical conditions, like miscarriages and fertility treatments, in which abortion and reproductive care is used.
