Akron Beacon Journal...
Free of bias
August 6, 2011 

Jon Husted wants to make sure that when voters consider Issue 3 on the statewide ballot in November, they see a title that is fair and not loaded with political freight. 

And well he should. The Ohio secretary of state and chairman of the state’s ballot board has final say on the wording of the titles of ballot issues. He has to finalize the title by the end of the month. 

Issue 3 proposes an amendment to the state constitution. If a majority of voters approve it, the amendment would mean the provision in the federal health-care law that requires individuals to buy health insurance or otherwise pay a fine would not apply in Ohio. 

The reform law, in particular the so-called individual mandate, does not lack controversy, as it is. Ohio already is party with 20 other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the mandate. 

The state ballot initiative reflects the heated national debate. Words matter. A title that is couched in neutral language is essential to avoid swaying voters one way or the other. 

Unfortunately, as drafted — “To preserve the freedom of Ohioans to choose their health care and health care coverage ” — the title is anything but neutral. The word “freedom” in the title consciously carries over the contentious notion of “socialized medicine,” of a federal government out of control, snatching away personal freedoms and choices in health care. 

The decision Ohioans have to make regarding the individual mandate is whether government has an obligation to level the health-care field in such a way that citizens have access to reasonable choices for affordable care when they get sick (which they do at one time or another) and that the burden of such care does not fall disproportionately on those who pay for coverage. Should the insured in Ohio consider it their “freedom” or their “choice” to pay for those who won’t buy health insurance? As Husted well understands, his obligation is to ensure that the language is shorn of the partisan load. 

Read it at the Akron Beacon Journal