Advocates praise law removing harmful language on MH, disabilities.

A law recently signed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine finally removes derogatory language about people with disabilities from state law, a move that was years in the making, the Ohio Capital Journal reported Jan. 10. Advocates praised the passage and signing of the Mental Health and Disability Terminology Act, introduced with bipartisan sponsors as House Bill (HB) 281. The bill was a work in progress for years, and removes such words as "idiot," "lunatics," and "derangement" that were still part of the Ohio Revised Code. "The words are very stigmatizing, they're very traumatizing and antiquated," said Katherine Yoder, executive director of Ohio's Adult Advocacy Centers. As the work began in 2021 to get the bill into the Ohio House, legislators reacted with surprise, mainly because they thought the changes had already been made. State agencies were renamed in 2009 to remove the phrase "mental retardation," but the language remained in revised code. HB 281 passed quickly through the House with Ohio State Reps. Dontavius Jarrells (D‐Columbus) and Tom Young (R‐Washington Twp.) at the helm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]