Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine blocked a bill late Thursday that sought to protect medical professionals from disciplinary action for expressing opinions that contradict state health officials.
DeWine argued the measure in House Bill 315 would severely undermine the state's ability to regulate medical misconduct and safeguard public health, AP reported.
"Ohio's medical licensing boards exist to protect patients and the public from bad actors in the medical field," DeWine wrote in his veto message. "Health professionals who give harmful medical care shouldn't get a 'legal shield' to avoid accountability by claiming a difference of 'medical opinion.'"
The provision, backed by Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, aimed to prohibit state health boards from disciplining licensed professionals for "publicly or privately expressing a medical opinion that does not align" with the "opinions" of health authorities at the city, county, or state level, AP reported.
Critics, including DeWine, warned it could have led to harmful consequences for patient care. The veto comes amid ongoing national debates over medical freedom and vaccine policies.
In 2021 an Ohio osteopathic doctor, Sherri Tenpenny, went viral for a testimony before state legislators where she claimed COVID-19 vaccines made people magnetic and could be interfering with women's menstrual cycles and making people "interface" with cell towers.
In response to hundreds of complaints, the state medical board launched at inquiry and eventually suspended Tenpenny's medical license when she refused to cooperate with the investigation. Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom deny that Tenpenny's case inspired the medical free speech proposal.
Despite vetoing the medical free speech provision, DeWine left other elements of the bill intact, including a declaration that Ohio is outside the jurisdiction of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Originally published on Latin Times
