DeWine signs bill to designate ‘Ohio Stillbirth Prevention Day'
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill Wednesday that advocates hope will help prevent a silent crisis in the Buckeye state: stillbirths.
Ohio is a statistical outlier when it comes to stillbirths, with an average of nearly 900 cases reported each year. That's more than the national average, and studies show about a third of them are preventable.
House Bill 4 aims to address the problem by designating 'Ohio Stillbirth Prevention Day,' a day that will start a broader conversation about stillbirth prevention and the care provided to Ohio families who have experienced the loss of a child.
2025 National Spelling Bee: Columbus eighth grader narrowly misses final
'This is a personal cause for me,' NBC4's Jennifer Bullock said. 'After losing my son nearly four years ago, we started 'Miles' Mission' to advocate for this cause. And my family and I were honored to join Governor Mike DeWine this morning as he signed the bill into law.'
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) and Rep. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati).
Ohio Stillbirth Prevention Day will be on Sept. 19.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ohio bill that would require free feminine hygiene products in prisons moves forward
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A bill that would require Ohio prisons to offer incarcerated women free feminine hygiene products has taken a step toward becoming law. The Ohio House unanimously passed House Bill 29 on Wednesday, which would require all jails and prisons in the state that house women to provide an 'adequate supply' of free pads and tampons in a 'variety of sizes.' The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Reps. Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus) and Marilyn John (R-Richland County), would also require facilities to allow at least one shower a day for inmates who are menstruating. Under the bill, correctional institutions could not deny an inmate feminine hygiene products and would have to implement formal policies surrounding the distribution of the products. Before passing the House, the bill went through four hearings where 13 people testified in its support, with nobody publicly opposing it. Zachary Miller with the Office of the Public Defender spoke at an April hearing, stating that feminine hygiene products are not a luxury but a necessary healthcare item. 'Scarcity of these products could cause the women to use the products for longer than recommended, leading to negative health outcomes or encourage them to barter for these products, opening the door for potential abuses of power,' Miller said. Multiple former female inmates also testified at the hearings, many of which shared stories of facing limited access to sanitary products and resorting to using socks, toilet paper or other items as makeshift pads and tampons. Some recalled negative health outcomes as a result of a lack of readily available products. Currently, there is no Ohio law requiring jails and prisons to provide feminine hygiene products. In 2022, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction issued a policy to ensure women receive free and unlimited feminine hygiene products. However, during testimony, multiple people claimed access is not always reliable, and Humphrey pointed out that the policy could be rescinded. There are an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 women incarcerated in Ohio, according to Miller. The department of rehabilitation and correction oversees all 28 prisons in the state but does not operate jails. Last year, the state department spent about $173,500 on feminine products in prisons, according to an analysis of the bill. 'While the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections currently has a policy that requires these products to be provided to the women under its care at no cost, there are other correctional facilities in Ohio where access is not guaranteed,' Miller said. Humphrey introduced a similar bill in the last legislative session that passed the House unanimously but stalled in the Senate. The former bill also did not receive any opponent testimony. SB 29 will now move to the Senate for consideration. If the bill is signed into law, Ohio will join 25 other states that have statutes requiring free feminine hygiene products for incarcerated women. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
A rare COVID-19 strain disappeared overnight. We still don't know which Ohioan had it
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Scientists were searching for a central Ohio resident with a mysterious strain of COVID-19. Before they could find them, it vanished. Molecular virologist Marc Johnson, a professor at the University of Missouri's medical school, examines wastewater samples to track COVID-19 strains and prevalence. In his work, he noticed different strains of COVID, including mysterious variants he dubbed 'cryptics.' One of these cryptics was traced to central Ohio. Johnson said he believed just one resident, who regularly traveled between Columbus and Washington Court House, carried the cryptic strain for at least two years. In June 2023, Johnson spoke with NBC4 and implored the rare COVID carrier to come forward and help scientists understand the strain. That same month, the strain vanished and has not returned. Lawmakers push for stricter rules on 'obscene' drag queens Last December, Johnson included the Ohio sample in his research summary about cryptic strains, which may soon be published. According to the study, Johnson and his colleagues traced 18 rare cryptic strains using wastewater treatment data. Ohio publishes its wastewater treatment statistics and tracks flu, RSV and COVID levels in the sewage. Johnson and his colleagues found the central Ohio strain mutated over a nine-month period and indicated incredibly high levels of COVID, increasing as the infection presumably grew. Johnson said the highest levels of COVID in Washington Court House's wastewater all year came from this strain. The research determined the rare strain likely manifested in the gastrointestinal track. Johnson estimated on social media in June 2023 that around 3.5 square feet of the person's intestines were infected. Johnson said via social media that it was highly unlikely the person and their doctor knew about the infection, but it was likely causing long-term damage. At the time, he was unaware of any other infections that would shed that much of the virus without killing its host. What Johnson and his colleagues do not know is who the central Ohio patient is, what symptoms they had, or what ultimately happened to them. 'I doubt it ended well for the person, but we will probably never know,' Johnson said. Locals paint rainbow fence at German Village bar that had Pride flags stolen Johnson does know some things about the Ohioan and the strain, which he did not believe to be contagious. Johnson said the strain was most commonly found in the southern Columbus wastewater. Columbus operates two wastewater treatment plants that serve Columbus and 25 suburbs between them. According to state data, the southern Columbus plant serves south and east Columbus, and the more northern plant covers Downtown and northeast Columbus. Johnson said the strain appeared a few times in the northern Columbus area around the holidays. The person with the rare COVID strain most likely lived in the Columbus area and commuted to Washington Court House for work or some other reason that required frequent trips. Wastewater infection disease trends are updated Mondays and Thursdays, and the study shows the final trace of the rare COVID strain appeared in a June 4, 2023, sample. NBC4 compared obituaries from the first half of June 2023 to see if anyone could be a fit for the mysterious COVID strain. Fewer than 10 people could not be ruled out based on address or occupation. However, no one person stood out as a clear fit. Without making contact with the person, Johnson said everything is speculative and derived from publicly available information. His research offers insight into long-term COVID infections and how they can manifest, but without connecting with patients, there is only so much that can be uncovered. If you or a loved one could fit this description, reach out to a cryptic lineage lab to help others and access medical treatment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ohio would see more than $1 billion in revenue if Medicaid expansion group stays, new study finds
A poll released Thursday, May 1 showed 76% of Americans oppose cuts to Medicaid. (Photo via Getty Images) A new study of Ohio Medicaid showed the Affordable Care Act expansion group of nearly 770,000 would bring the state an economic benefit of $1 billion if it survives cuts at the federal and state level. But Ohio Republicans might include a trigger in the state budget to cut the expansion if Medicaid budget cuts come down from Congress. The Ohio Senate is expected to release its proposed state operating budget in the next few days, a proposal that will then be compared to and combined with the Ohio House's version already passed last month, before a final draft heads to the governor for his signature. The Ohio House's version of the budget absorbed a proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine in his executive budget that creates a trigger effect, eliminating Group VIII, or the Medicaid expansion eligibility group, 'if the federal government sets the federal medical assistance percentage below (its current level of) 90%,' according to budget documents. Child health programs including even pediatric cancer research see cuts in Ohio House budget draft The expansion group, which was introduced administratively in Ohio in 2014, represents adults aged 19 to 64 who earn less than 138% of the federal poverty level but aren't eligible for Medicaid in other categories. For a family of two, the poverty level stands at $21,150 in Ohio and other contiguous states. The federal budget, which is being reviewed by the U.S. Senate, could include a larger state contribution to the Medicaid program than seen in the past, dropping the federal contribution, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage or FMAP, from its current share of 90%. If that is passed into law, and if the state budget is passed and signed with the trigger in place, the expansion population would face cuts. According to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio's newest policy brief, written by Amy Rohling McGee, the 10% the state currently pays to support Medicaid stands in juxtaposition to revenue and state savings generated by the program. After accounting for the savings the state nets as a part of the program and revenue created, researchers found that the state share is effectively 1.4%. 'Discontinuing expansion would save substantially less than the state share amount, it would reduce federal funds coming to Ohio by over $42 billion over five years, and would leave an estimated 435,000 Ohioans without coverage,' Rohling McGee wrote as part of the HPIO's 2025 Ohio Medicaid Expansion Study. The economic activity that results from those in the Medicaid expansion group having their health insurance covered 'is projected to generate over $1.1 billion over the next five years in state general revenue from personal income taxes, sales taxes and gross receipts taxes,' according to HPIO researchers. State revenue would drop in a number of other ways without the expansion group, according to the HPIO Medicaid study. The population brings state revenue through health insuring corporation (HIC) premium taxes and franchise fees, along with prescription drug rebates. 'As part of the federal Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, Ohio's Medicaid program receives rebates from drug manufacturers in exchange for the program's coverage of most of the manufacturer's drugs,' the HPIO wrote. 'These rebates offset the costs of most outpatient prescription drugs dispensed to Medicaid patients.' Money the state receives from drug rebates goes back into the Medicaid budget to support spending, according to the study. Along with drops in economic health for the state, the loss of the Medicaid expansion group could negatively impact the state's overall health, dropping the number of insured Ohioans. The institute's research said Ohio's uninsured rate 'would potentially increase by 80%' in fiscal year 2026 without the existence of Medicaid expansion. Those in the expansion group can include students, Ohioans with chronic health conditions, and older residents. Almost 50% of the Ohioans covered under the Medicaid expansion are among the state's workforce, according to the Center for Community Solutions. If the Medicaid expansion remained as it is now, the policy institute found Ohio would get more than $42 billion from the federal government over five years to fund the population in that expansion. 'The state would have to raise considerable revenue to be able to fill the gap that elimination of expansion would leave,' the study stated. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
