· May 14, 2013

Could Personhood be on the Ballot in 2014?

The Personhood amendment seeks to ban abortions by amending the Ohio Constitution to state life begins when a human egg is fertilized. If approved, a fertilized egg would have all of the legal and constitutional rights as a person, and there would be no exemptions for rape or incest.  Past attempts to place this extreme measure on the ballot have failed to gain support from  traditional anti-abortion groups including Ohio Right to Life and the Catholic bishops. When originally proposed in Ohio, only 20,000 of the necessary 350,000 signatures for the 2012 ballot were collected.  However, Patrick Johnson and Personhood Ohio have not given up.  This weekend Personhood organizers held a press conference announcing their renewed efforts to place a Personhood amendment on the ballot. Supporters of this ballot amendment said they were aiming for the 2014 ballot. Previous attempts to collect signatures have been poorly organized and poorly funded. Personhood USA, a national group promoting the Personhood concept, has been actively involved in other states with groups seeking similar ballot initiatives. So far they have not been involved in Ohio, which may be telling of the potential for success. You can watch the full press conference here.