Position: Support

  • The Data Center Accountability & Citizen Protection Act

    The Data Center Accountability & Citizen Protection Act (HB 983) puts Ohio communities back in charge of the data centers moving into their neighborhoods. It gives residents a direct ballot vote, holds these facilities to real air- and water-safety standards, and ends the secret deals and tax giveaways that leave local families paying the price.

    What HB 983 does

    1. Gives citizens the vote. Requires a citizen ballot vote before any data center or associated power facility expecting 1 megawatt of electrical load can be approved to be built — for every city, village, or township located within 5 miles of the perimeter of the proposed facility.
    2. Sets real safety standards. Requires the Ohio EPA to set air-emissions and wastewater safety standards for all non-regulated metals, glycols, and organics — including PFAS (“forever chemicals”) — that are used in data centers and their power-generating facilities.
    3. Closed-loop cooling & energy independence. Requires all new, voter-approved data centers to use closed-loop cooling systems and to build their own power facility to stay energy-independent, off the grid.
    4. Treat the water they use. Requires all new, voter-approved data centers to build attached water-treatment facilities with the capacity to treat the entire volume of discharge wastewater they produce, prior to discharge.
    5. Existing centers must catch up — water. Requires all existing data centers to build attached water-treatment facilities able to clean whatever amount of discharge wastewater they produce, within 18 months of the act taking effect.
    6. Existing centers must catch up — air. Requires all existing data centers and associated power facilities to comply with the newly established air-emissions standards within 18 months of the act taking effect.
    7. Real penalties, paid locally. Establishes daily penalties — paid to the affected city, village, or township — for any data center that violates emissions and wastewater-discharge requirements, and sets a 30-day limit to come into compliance or the facility is subject to removal of its license to operate.
    8. No tax giveaways. Prohibits all property-tax abatements.
    9. Ends the secret deals. Prohibits future and currently allowed NDAs for development and supply agreements related to a data center or associated power-generating facility, and protects local officials from being penalized for disclosing information about any such agreement.
    10. Closes the revolving door. Prohibits any person who participated in drafting or revising Ohio Power Siting Board rules or Public Utilities Commission rules from representing a data center applicant for 3 years.
    11. Transparency on the EPA’s website. Requires EPA discharge water and emissions requirements and test results from data centers to be posted on the EPA’s website.

    Why it matters

    Data centers are among the largest new consumers of Ohio’s power and water, and they are being sited faster than communities can weigh in. HB 983 restores the balance: no massive facility gets built next to your town without your vote, no chemical goes into your air or water without a standard, and no deal gets cut behind a non-disclosure agreement that keeps residents in the dark. It is accountability first — and citizens first.

    How you can help

    Add your name to get alerts the moment HB 983 moves, a hearing is scheduled, or your action is needed. When Ohioans show up in numbers, lawmakers listen.

    Support HB 983Help us pass the Data Center Accountability & Citizen Protection ActYour donation funds the organizing and grassroots “political” pressure it takes to move HB 983 through the statehouse and into law.Donate to implement this legislation →

  • Support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead US Health and Human Services

    Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom supports the nomination for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead US Health and Human Services.

    Congratulations to Robert F. Kennedy Jr on his confirmation to Health and Human Services Secretary! We look forward to seeing him take up the fight for our children’s health at the federal level as the states continue their medical freedom work on the home front!

  • Conscientious Right to Refuse

    Passed out of health provider services committee, session ended before it was brought to a floor for vote, DIED 12-31-24

    HB 319: “Conscientious, Right to Refuse”

    HB 319 Conscientious Right to Refuse Act has PASSED out of House Health Provider Services Committee! THANK YOU to Chairman DJ Swearingen for calling this important vote for the PEOPLE!

    HB 319 (Conscientious, Right to Refuse.- Sponsors: Gross & Wiggam) is a bill that guarantees the right of any Ohioan, 18 and older to decline any vaccine, pharmaceutical, drug, or biologic, that they have a conscientious or religious objection to without suffering discrimination, retribution, financial penalty, loss of employment, or loss of access to public services. It has a provision to allow for litigation and recoup of legal costs, if discrimination occurs. (Note: this bill does not include children because daycares and K-12 schools already have conscientious, religious and medical exemptions available. See our K-12 exemption section for details.)

    Find HB 319 bill language and status here: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb319

    Please thank the Representatives who voted YES on this vital legislation!!

    Rep. Swearingen

    Rep. Gross

    Rep. Barhorst

    Rep. Puzzulli

    Rep. M. Miller

    Rep. T. Young

    Rep. Callender

    Thank you to our champion bill Sponsors Rep. Gross & Rep. Wiggam!

    Because the House of Representatives and the Senate have convened for the remainder of the 135th assembly HB 319 will need to be re-introduced at the beginning of the year and we will continue the fight to move it forward again. Please check back in January to find out the new bill number and continue your advocacy.

  • Taxpayer Protection Against the Frivolous Vaccine Lottery Act

    Bill to prohibit the state from conducting a lottery dependent on an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status, to name the act the “Taxpayer Protection Against the Frivolous Vaccine Lottery Act,” to make an appropriation, and to declare an emergency.

    Read more about the bill.

  • Prohibit public schools from requiring masks

    Bill to prohibit public schools from requiring students to wear a mask or other facial covering on school premises or a school bus and to declare an emergency.

    Read more about the bill.

  • Un-Mask Ohio

    HB617: “Un-Mask Ohio”

    HB 617 (Un-Mask Ohio – sponsor: Wiggam) prevents masks from being mandated in any school, college, or any government building or public transit, and in any place of public accommodation or where public services are rendered in the private sector.

    Find HB 617 language and status here:

    https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb617

    CURRENT CALL to ACTION for HB617 here:

    Contact House Public Health Services Committee Chair Adam Matthews and ask him to “Please re-schedule the proponent testimony that you cancelled in June for the first scheduled committee date on the return of the House this fall. This legislation is very important to me and my family.”

    Chairman Matthews

    📫 rep56@ohiohouse.gov

    ☎️ (614) 644-6027

  • Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act

    Ohio House Bill 248

    HB248 Legislation

    Ohio House Sub-Bill 248 would have guaranteed Ohioans vaccine choice, healthcare privacy, and protection from discrimination based on vaccine status. Unfortunately, the House Health Committee failed to vote this valuable piece of legislation out of committee. Below we have archived details about the legislation and we hope that the legislature will introduce similar legislation in the near future.

    Ohio House Sub-Bill 248 would guarantee Ohioans their right to vaccine choice and to maintain their healthcare privacy. It would also prohibit discrimination based on vaccine status.

    Ohio House Bill 248 has received an unprecedented amount of public support on such an issue. The bill received 1,500 proponent testimonies supporting the bill and a fairly insignificant number of letters opposing the legislation. No similar legislation anywhere else in the United States has ever been as successful in the legislative process as HB248.

    Despite the overwhelming support that HB248 has received, the Ohio legislature has remained impotent in passing any meaningful legislation protecting Ohioans’ medical freedom rights and the bill stalled out in the Health Committee because our legislature cares more about their campaign contributions than they do your rights!

    Archive of VoteYesOnHB248.com HB248 Home Page. 📄

    Archive of VoteYesOnHB248.com HB248 Legislation Page. 📄

    Read more of Rep. Jennifer Gross’ April 6, 2021 Press Release 📄

    Read the Amended Bill that Rep. Gross Introduced at the first Committee Hearing on 5/18/21. 📄

    Read Rep. Gross’ Sponsor Testimony from the Committee Hearing on 5/18/21. 📄

    Read the Amended Bill that Rep. Gross Introduced at the first Committee Hearing. 📄

    2×2 Double-Sided HB248 Info Card (Business Card Size) 📄

    8.5×11 Single-Sided HB248 Info Flyer (Full Sheet Size) 📄

    8.5×11 Single-Sided Freedom Bill Comparison Chart (Full Sheet Size) 📄

    While our interest in the legislature passing HB248 hasn’t waned, we realize that our representatives don’t have our best interest in mind. Therefore, Representative Gross initiated a petition to discharge HB248 from the Health Committee. Read more about the Discharge Petition below.

    HB248 Discharge Petition

    HB248 Discharge Petition would allow House Representatives to move HB248 out of the Health Committee and to the House floor for a vote as-is.

    In United States parliamentary procedure, a discharge petition is a means of bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee by “discharging” the committee from further consideration of a bill or resolution.

    So why a discharge petition? Well, about a hundred of Ohio’s multi-million and multi-billion dollar lobbying organizations came out against Ohio House Bill 248. These organizations represent millions of dollars in contributions to the political campaigns of most of the politicians in the state of Ohio, from local mayors to state legislators, from county commissioners to congressional candidates. Without getting into the weeds on the rational, these organizations oppose HB248 because the legislation would prevent their ability to discriminate against individuals who choose not to receive some or any vaccines.

    Although HB248 received an unprecedented number of proponent testimonies in favor of the legislation, some 1,500 letters to the House Health Committee, and received a relatively insignificant number of opposition testimonies, the bill stalled out in the Health Committee because our legislature cares more about their campaign contributions than they do your rights!

    As such, Representative Jennifer Gross, HB248 Sponsor, decided to submit a “discharge petition” in an effort to either circumvent the Health Committee and bring the bill to the House floor for a vote, or expose fellow legislators for the frauds they are as evidence by their objection to signing the HB248 discharge petition.

    Archive of VoteYesOnHB248.com HB248 Home Page. 📄

    Archive of VoteYesOnHB248.com HB248 Discharge Petition Page. 📄

    Read more of Rep. Jennifer Gross’ Press Release 9/10/21 📄

    Read the Original Bill that would be Discharged 📄

    Read Rep. Gross’ Sponsor Testimony from the Committee Hearing on 5/18/21. 📄

    HB248 Ballot Initiative

    HB248 Ballot Initiative would have brought a refined version of HB248 to the ballot box in November, allowing Ohioans to circumvent the legislature’s impotence. However, due to the Attorney General’s continued effort to block this effort, the Ballot Initiative Team discontinued efforts to bring HB248 to the ballot and instead turned to a new effort, bringing a Constitutional Amendment to the ballot.

    The ballot initiative is a means by which citizens may propose to create, amend, or repeal a state law or constitutional provision through collecting petition signatures from a certain minimum number of registered voters. Successful initiative petition efforts result in the proposal being presented to voters within a state or other local government jurisdiction. Ballot initiatives are also referred to as ballot measures, popular initiatives, voter initiatives, citizen initiatives, and propositions.

    In Ohio, citizens have the power to initiate constitutional amendments, state statutes, and veto referendums. Initiated statutes, in Ohio, begin as indirect initiatives, requiring 132,887 signatures, in 2021, to go before the Ohio State Legislature, which has the option to approve an initiative without a vote of electors. If the state legislature does not adopt an indirect initiative, the initiated statute becomes direct, requiring an additional batch of signatures (132,887 in 2021 for a grand total of 265,774) to go before voters.

    So why a ballot initiative? Well, about a hundred of Ohio’s multi-million and multi-billion dollar lobbying organizations came out against Ohio House Bill 248. These organizations represent millions of dollars in contributions to the political campaigns of most of the politicians in the state of Ohio, from local mayors to state legislators, from county commissioners to congressional candidates. Without getting into the weeds on the rational, these organizations oppose HB248 because the legislation would prevent their ability to discriminate against individuals who choose not to receive some or any vaccines.

    Although HB248 received an unprecedented number of proponent testimonies in favor of the legislation, some 1,500 letters to the House Health Committee, and received a relatively insignificant number of opposition testimonies, the bill stalled out in the Health Committee because our legislature cares more about their campaign contributions than they do your rights!

    As such, a group of dedicated volunteers and freedom-loving Ohioans, decided to pursue a “ballot initiative” to circumvent the Ohio Legislature and bring the protections of HB248 to Ohio voters for a vote.

    Please read on below:

    Archive of VoteYesOnHB248.com HB248 Home Page. 📄

    Archive of VoteYesOnHB248.com HB248 Ballot Initiative Page. 📄

    Medical Right to Refuse Initiative

    The Medical Right to Refuse Ballot Initiative aims to add law to the Ohio Constitution that would ensure that Ohioans maintain health choice autonomy.

    Ohio law permits Ohioans to bring Constitutional Amendments to the general public for a state-wide vote to enact law within the Ohio Constitution. This is what we’re doing. We’re approaching the general public and asking Ohioans to pass law that would ensure they, their families, their friends, their co-workers, all Ohioans, have the final say as to what medication goes into their bodies. Read More…

    The Medical Right to Refuse is an Ohio Ballot Initiative intended to amend the Ohio Constitution to guarantee that Ohioans retain their right to direct their own healthcare decisions as to what medication they put into their bodies.

    WHO SUPPORTS HB248

    To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

  • Vax-A-Million database not a public record

    Bill to specify the information in the Vax-A-Million database is not public record and to declare an emergency.

    Read more about the bill.

  • The Parental C.H.O.I.C.E. Act

    Parental C.H.O.I.C.E Act

    On October 27, 2025, the Parental C.H.O.I.C.E. Act was officially introduced by our champion joint sponsors:

    Representative Melanie Miller 🇺🇸
    Representative Monica Robb Blasdel 🇺🇸

    The Parental C.H.O.I.C.E. Act is House Bill 561 in the 136th Ohio General Assembly, and is currently in committee.

    What the Parental C.H.O.I.C.E. Act Does….

    1. Strengthens enforcement of existing vaccine exemptions
    Requires all K–12 schools, preschools, and daycares that mandate vaccines to honor Ohio’s current medical, religious, and conscientious exemptions.

    2. Prohibits schools from demanding extra paperwork or specific forms
    Schools cannot question a parent’s religion or request additional personal health information.

    3. Ensures transparency for parents
    Schools must clearly communicate exemption rights in all vaccine-related correspondence sent to parents.

    4. Removes the Hepatitis B vaccine requirement for preschools and daycares

    Aligns with the new recommendation from Trump/Kennedy to delay Hep B vaccination until age 12.

    5. Establishes a complaint and enforcement process
    Parents who are denied an exemption or not informed of their rights can file a complaint. Schools or programs that fail to comply within 30 days may face suspension of their charter or license.

    6. Prevents discrimination against healthy, unvaccinated children
    Schools may not exclude healthy, uninfected students from attendance during outbreaks of chickenpox, measles, or mumps.

    🇺🇸 Please take a moment to thank our champion sponsors above and our Co-Sponsors listed below! 🇺🇸
    Click on the names below to email them directly:

    Rep Jennifer Gross · Rep D.J. Swearingen · Rep Tim Barhorst · Rep Thad Claggett · Rep Angela King · Rep Jean Lear · Rep Brian Lorenz · Rep Michelle Teska · Rep Ron Ferguson · Rep Jeff LaRe · Rep Thomas Hall · Rep Diane Mullins · Rep Kevin Miller · Rep Josh Williams · Rep Johnathan Newman · Rep Jason Stephens · Rep Justin Pizzulli · Rep Kellie Deeter · Rep Levi Dean · Rep Gary Click · Rep Tex Fischer

    🚨Current Call 2 Action🚨

    We will update the call to action as soon as we have a committee assignment! Check back this soon!

  • Reverse adverse actions against businesses

    Bill to a) reverse and expunge any adverse actions taken by the state et al against a business who was found to be in violation of orders issued under the emergency order, b) restore rights and privileges that were affected by such adverse actions, c) refund businesses any penalties/fines levied.

    Read more about the bill.

Straight Up · PodcastWatch Medical Freedom Podcast episodes herewith Stephanie StockEast Palestine · Town HallThe Right to Know! — Watch the full town hallRecorded Sept 11 · Firestone Farms, Columbiana