Majority Republicans in the Ohio House haave approved a bill shielding the source of the state's lethal injection drugs for a minimum of 20 years.
The fast-moving bill moves next to the Ohio Senate. It would require a drug maker to specifically ask for anonymity, rather than receive it automatically, and would allow release of the company's name 20 years after it last provides the drugs to the state. The bill's sponsors say the state prisons agency can't get lethal injection drugs without the assurance it can shield companies' names. Many drug makers have said they do not want their products used in the taking of human life. The bill would give judges the ability to view information about a vendor after consulting with Ohio's prisons department.
