July 1, 2022

Advocacy: Physician Voices in the Issues that Matter to Most to You

Regardless of your personal political persuasion, there can be no question that events of the past few years have highlighted that public policy decisions have dramatic impacts on the practice of medicine and patients' lives.

The CMA engages in various ways to bring physician voices in front of elected officials. On some items, physicians bring ideas through the CMA’s Public Policy Committee to the Board of Trustees for official organizational positions.

And other times, individual, or groups of CMA members, want to strike out on their own. These doctors use CMA consulting resources to help navigate the political system and speak their own minds to elected officials.

Either way, any CMA doctor is welcome to get involved in the CMA’s Public Policy work. Drs. Stephanie Costa and Bill Cotton are co-chairs of the CMA’s Public Policy Committee. CMA policy consultant Malcolm Porter is available to connect with any member about their interests and objectives

Fireworks Now Legal in Ohio, Haven’t Always Been That Way

CMA Public Policy Committee Co-Chair, Dr. William Cotton, is a long-time safety advocate, opposed to the legalization of fireworks for regular public use.  

But, at the beginning of the year, HB 172 was passed into law, legalizing consumer use of fireworks. So, Dr. Cotton pivoted and joined the Ohio Fire Code Rule Recommendation Committee that was established to write the rules and regulations around fireworks.  

Read more about the history of fireworks in Ohio, Dr. Cotton's involvement, and how you can still advocate for your issues even when you "lose," by clicking the button below. 

Ohio May Vote On Constitutional Amendment to Authorize “Medical Right to Refuse Vaccinations”

A vital early step was cleared last week by advocates for a proposed constitutional amendment that would provide individuals with an absolute “medical right” to refuse vaccinations, or any medical intervention, without consequences.

The CMA has been an active coalition member in successfully opposing proposals like this in the Ohio General Assembly. Failing to get their desired outcome in the Legislature, advocates are going down the citizen initiative path.

The Ohio Attorney General approved the language submitted by the advocates as a fair and truthful representation of the proposal. The official language can be found here.

This proposal would seem to remove the underpinnings of many public health disease prevention efforts and would eliminate employer ability to establish work conditions around the vaccination of any employees.

Now that the AG has cleared the language, advocates will go to the Ballot Board to get approval of specific language for a ballot initiative. Should that step be completed, then a signature-gathering process would commence.

Approximately 440,000 valid signatures from over half of Ohio’s counties would need to be certified prior to the issue going on the ballot. The timing for these steps is unclear at this point in time.

The CMA will remain actively engaged with its opposition to this policy idea.

Save the Date! CMA's Annual PAC Fundraiser

More information to come soon!

From our Sponsors: CGS Administrators

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