Wyant v. Myuers

In this consolidated ballot title proceeding under ORS 250.085(2), petitioners contend that the Attorney General’s ballot title regarding Initiative Petition 40 (2004) does not comply substantially with the requirements of ORS 250.035. See ORS 250.085(5) (describing that standard for judicial review of ballot title). Initiative Petition 40, if adopted, would amend ORS 677.097, which now requires a physician or podiatric physician and surgeon to disclose certain information to a patient to obtain the patient’s informed consent to a procedure or treatment. The amendment, if adopted, would require a “health care provider?” to make additional disclosures and fulfill new procedural duties if the patient is “[a]ny woman seeking an abortion * * *.?” Appendix A to this opinion sets out the text of Initiative Petition 40. For that proposed measure, the Attorney General certified the following ballot title: