Abortion

Ohio Egg-As-Person Petition Rejected By Attorney General

DeWine calls the petition summary "not fair and truthful."

Ohio State Attorney General Mike DeWine. Image Source.

Personhood Ohio is in the beginning steps of trying to start a constitutional amendment that would redefine a fertilized egg as a legal person, but even this early the path has been rocky. The group has now had its petition rejected by State Attorney General Mike DeWine, who called the summary “not fair and truthful.”

The problem? The summary in the petition is announcing what the amendment would not affect, rather than what it would, and the “would nots” aren’t necessarily compatible with the petition’s wording.

Personhood Ohio, however, thinks it is being unjustly treated and announced that it would appeal.

Via The Columbus Dispatch:

Personhood Ohio organizer Patrick Johnston said the group would file an administrative appeal of the decision.

“I don’t think it’s necessary (to file a new petition),” Johnston said. “The amendment is scientifically sound, it’s constitutionally sound and I think he’s being arbitrary to reject our wording.”

Johnston said the wording of the amendment is similar to the wording of the Healthcare Freedom Amendment passed last year, also for Ohio’s constitution.

“I disagree that it isn’t consistent. On what basis? He didn’t give us a reason,” Johnston said.

The “exceptions” in the summary of the petition? That egg-as-person rights would not affect:

Genuine contraception ‘that acts solely by preventing the creation of a new human being,’ human eggs ‘prior to the beginning of life,’ or reproductive technology or in vitro fertilization procedures ‘that respect the right to life of newly created human beings.’