The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has certified a petition to advance and protect abortion rights in Ohio through a constitutional amendment.

The groups Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom joined forces to advance the amendment.

The Attorney General’s Office said the attorney general’s sole role in the petition process was to determine whether the language submitted by the petitioners is a fair and truthful summary of the proposed statute.

The proposal next moves to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine whether it contains a single constitutional amendment or more than one.

If the board certifies the proposal, the petitioners must then collect signatures from registered voters equal to at least 10 percent of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.

Those signatures must come from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties and, for each of those counties, the number must equal at least 5 percent of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.

If sufficient signatures are verified by the Ohio Secretary of State at least 65 days before the election, the full text of the proposed amendment will be placed on the ballot in the regular or general election that occurs subsequent to 125 days after the filing of the petition.

The full text of the certification letter and the petition can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Petitions.