Victory at Supreme Court for Personhood Ohio

The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Personhood Ohio. The suit was aimed at stopping the pro-life organization from circulating a petition that would allow Ohioans a vote to define all human beings as persons, thereby ending abortion throughout the state.

An organization calling themselves Healthy Families Ohio brought the suit in January, asking the Court to split the citizen initiative into two separate measures, after the Ohio Ballot Board ruled the Ohio Personhood Amendment dealt with, and could move forward as, a single subject. Planned Parenthood has previously used the title “Healthy Families,” as a shell to oppose personhood efforts. Mississippians for Healthy Families organized the No on Amendment 26 campaign last fall.

Healthy Families Ohio also charged that the ballot title, describing the effects of the amendment, was inaccurate.

The Ohio Personhood Amendment would define the words “person” and “men” to “apply to every human being at every stage of development of that human being, including fertilization.” The amendment language and ballot title further specify that the measure will not affect “genuine contraception that acts solely by preventing the creation of a new human being” or “In Vitro Fertilization procedures that respect the right to life of newly created human beings.”

The amendment also includes language clarifying that it would apply only to living human beings, from the moment our lives begin, and not “human ‘eggs’ or oocytes prior to the beginning of life.”

Personhood Ohio has until July to collect the 385,000 signatures required to reach the 2012 ballot.

“This ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court confirms what personhood supporters have been explaining all along. Recognizing the legal rights of all persons, regardless of their size or age, will simply put an end to their destruction,” commented Ohio Family Physician and Personhood Ohio Director, Dr. Patrick Johnston. “By dismissing this frivolous lawsuit, the Court got it exactly right. Contraception and reproductive medicine will continue to be widely available in our state. And contrary to the way it has been portrayed, personhood will not grant rights to human eggs. Rather, it will recognize that all men are endowed by our Creator with an unalienable right to life from the moment of our creation.”