Yahoo News: Both sides disagree on parental control on proposed abortion amendment

Supporters and opponents are weighing in on the impact a November ballot issue being circulated to create an amendment to ensure access to abortion in Ohio would impact parental consent laws when it comes to reproductive health care.

The proposed amendment, titled "The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety," provides that "every individual has a right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions," including, but not limited to, contraception, fertility treatments, continuing one's own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”

It bars the state from interfering with this right, though it does provide that "abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability" unless it is needed to protect the patient's life. The proposed amendment would allow  the state to impose restrictions if the state "demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual's health."

Dr. Jenn Dye, director of the Jones Center for Race, Gender and Social Justice at UC Law, spoke with the Dayton Daily News for a recent story on the topic.

She says the law would allow individuals to make decisions around abortion and reproductive care without state interference. It would also protect physicians treating patients going through miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies.

Dye says it won’t impact the consent statute currently in place that applies to reproductive health care and just health care in general. 

"The amendment really is addressed toward state actions and state officials from intervening in a person's choices regarding reproductive decisions," she told the Dayton Daily News.

Opponents of the proposed amendment have called into question what this means for parents, making claims that parents or guardians will not need to be notified if a minor seeks to undergo a procedure like an abortion or gender affirming surgeries.

The language of the proposed amendment is available online.

Read the full article written by the Dayton Daily News and also picked up by other publications online.

Featured image at top: Voting ballot machine. Photo/eyecare productions.