Latest news with #AnitaSomani
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers call for 2026 ballot measure to overturn same-sex marriage ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Lawmakers are igniting plans for Ohioans to vote in 2026 on whether to repeal the state's dormant same-sex marriage ban, out of concern it could be reenacted if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns marriage equality. Reps. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) and Eric Synenberg (D-Beachwood) announced on Tuesday that they are reintroducing the 'Marriage Equality Act,' a House Joint Resolution to codify same-sex and interracial marriage. If passed by the Statehouse, the act would place a constitutional amendment on the November 2026 ballot, providing Ohioans the chance to enshrine marriage equality into Ohio's constitution. Lt. Gov. Tressel discusses DEI, state's workforce preparedness, and possible gubernatorial run LGBTQ+ advocates argue the effort is needed given the Supreme Court has signaled it might reassess Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 case legalizing same-sex marriage. In a concurring opinion to the June 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote justices 'should reconsider all of this court's substantive due process precedents, including … Obergefell.' Dwayne Steward, Equality Ohio executive director, shares those concerns and told NBC4 in March that the organization is 'having conversations across the state around how we protect marriage equality' in the wake of resolutions introduced in a handful of states urging the Supreme Court to roll back Obergefell. Legislators also attempted last year to align Ohio law with the protections set by Obergefell, but the proposal didn't advance past a single committee hearing. Watch a previous NBC4 report on the 'Marriage Equality Act' in the video player above. 'We cannot assume that federal protections currently under law will last forever, and that is why we are taking this step now to ensure that Ohio's constitution reflects what we already know to be true: Love is love, families matter and every Ohioans deserves equal protection and dignity under the law,' Synenberg said on Tuesday. Should Obergefell be overturned, Ohio would reckon with a revived law passed by the Statehouse in 2004 that states 'a marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman.' A constitutional amendment that voters passed later in 2004 which reads, 'only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state,' would also be resurrected. A federal law signed in 2022, the Respect for Marriage Act, requires a state to recognize same-sex marriages from other states, while also allowing states to decide for themselves whether to issue licenses to same-sex couples. So, if Obergefell falls and Ohio's bans have yet to be repealed, the act would only require the state to recognize marriages from other states where it is legal. Senate makes changes to Ohio's budget proposal The 'Marriage Equality Act' would ensure Ohio's same-sex couples can continue utilizing legal privileges associated with marriage, like sharing insurance, accessing military benefits, and tax deductions associated with filing taxes jointly. As an OBGYN, Somani said she's 'seen firsthand how having a legally recognized marriage is incredibly important during life's most difficult and vulnerable moments.' 'We see this when someone is dying of cancer and their partner is not allowed to be there in hospice or end-of-life care,' Somani said. 'That is devastating to not have that recognition when you spent your whole life with someone. I have so many friends and family members who are so scared they are gonna lose their legal marriage rights, and I think we need to be fighting.' A ballot measure in Ohio codifying marriage equality would not be unprecedented. Also concerned after the fall of Roe in 2022, voters in California, Colorado and Hawaii passed initiatives in last November's election to repeal dormant same-sex marriage bans and proactively protect marriage equality. Ohio's version would follow in the footsteps of 2023's Issue 1, another ballot measure that passed with 56% of the vote and established the right to abortion. Somani and Synenberg made Tuesday's announcement during a press conference marking Pride Month with other Statehouse Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates. Sen. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), Ohio's first openly gay Statehouse lawmaker, touted her new bill to mark 'Love Makes a Family Week,' after Republican legislators introduced plans to designate a month celebrating 'natural families.' Lawmakers clash over Ohio bill to ban therapy for minors without parent consent Antonio also recently reintroduced proposals to ban anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. While Antonio told NBC4 in March the timing of a measure codifying same-sex marriage needs to be right and that such a proposal would only be written 'honestly and presented objectively' when Statehouse representation changes, she said on Tuesday now is the time to 'stand together to make sure that no one is sent out to the margins.' 'I am proud to be the first member of the LGBTQ community to be elected to this legislature back in 2010,' Antonio said during the press conference. 'There is no closet big enough to send us all back to, we're not going and we don't have to. We should not. Members of the LGBTQ community survived persecution, survived erasure a long time ago. We are not going back to those days.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio voucher program: Data shows nearly 90% of participants are not low-income
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — State data shows nearly 90% of students enrolled in Ohio's voucher program this year are not low-income qualified, a dramatic turnabout from the program's stated initial purpose. Ohio's K-12 voucher program has made headlines recently as lawmakers consider trimming millions in state funds for public schools while expanding funds for state vouchers. Ohio offers five voucher programs, which provide state scholarships for students to attend private school. Of them, EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion have the largest participation by far. The EdChoice program began to help low-income students in struggling districts, but the EdChoice-Exp program made it so any Ohio student could get at least a partial scholarship, regardless of income. The expansion rapidly increased scholarship enrollment, but most of the recipients are not low-income eligible. See previous coverage of vouchers in the video player above. Tax credit would help fund Ohioans with young children According to state data, fewer EdChoice and EdChoice-Exp participants qualified as low-income this school year when compared to last. Further, according to a report from the General Assembly, 17% of EdChoice-Exp scholarships go to the state's top earners, all making more than $200,000 per year. This means the third-largest percentile of scholarship participants are among the top 8.4% wealthiest households in Ohio. Wealthy recipients receive less state money, so payments to top tax bracket participants only made up 3% of all voucher payments, $11 million. Proponents of scholarships say helping low-income students isn't the only goal of vouchers. Statehouse leaders call free school lunch programs 'wasteful' 'This is about more than economic need. This is about providing all families with a choice and flexibility in education,' Donovan O'Neil, director of Ohio's chapter of Americans For Prosperity, said. Scholarship participation skyrocketed once universal vouchers were implemented. However, private school enrollment did not follow the same trend, indicating that many of the students who embraced universal scholarships were already affording private school beforehand. Many Democratic lawmakers, public school advocates and teachers' unions point to state data like this to say vouchers no longer help low-income students and instead defer money from public schools. 'Ohioans deserve to live in a state where everyone can succeed. That means fully and fairly funding public schools rather than handing out vouchers to private or unregulated charter schools,' State Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) said. Fact check: Has legal cannabis increased crime in Ohio? Vouchers also cannot help all Ohio students. Eight counties — Carroll, Champaign, Hardin, Holmes, Meigs, Morgan, Noble and Vinton — have no eligible EdChoice voucher schools, representing around 35,000 students, according to U.S. Census data. Comparatively, there are only 21,184 low-income eligible EdChoice and EdChoice-Exp students this school year. 'There is a lack of supply of schools that accept these dollars, especially in rural communities,' O'Neil said. 'Maybe the numbers aren't capturing lower-income families in rural areas simply because the option is not available.' Nearly 1 million students are participating in the EdChoice-Exp voucher program this school year. Ohio lawmakers will continue to debate school funding budget choices in the House, then the Senate before implementation this summer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers Just Proposed Making It Illegal For Men To Have Unprotected Sex Unless They Intend To Make A Baby, And YES, This Is REAL
It's a ballsy move, but two Ohio State Representatives have introduced a bill that would make it illegal for men to have unprotected sex if it's not intended to make a baby. If the 'Conception Begins at Erection Act' passes, men in Ohio could be charged with a felony if they 'discharge genetic material' without intending to get a woman pregnant. A Capitol Police car parked in front of the United States Capitol However, the bill does provide exceptions if the male partner uses protection or contraception, masturbates on their own, donates sperm, or is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Think it sounds nutty? You'll get no arguments from Rep. Anita Somani, who co-sponsored the bill with fellow Democrat Tristan Rader. In an editorial for the Columbus Dispatch, Somani, a gynecologist, admitted she knows 'how ludicrous my sounds' but said that was the point. 'Is my bill offensive because it dares to attack men? Maybe, but again, as an OB/GYN, I'm against regulating anyone's reproductive rights,' she said. Those decisions, she argued, 'should be between the patient and the physician without criminal penalties being built into bills conservative organizations are promoting across the country.' HuffPost has reached out to Somani for details on the bill. In an interview with CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO, Somani said there's no doubt about the damage restrictive abortion laws have had on women. 'What other right do you know of where women have different rights based on where they live versus men?' she asked. 'If I live in a state that protects reproductive rights, I have more rights than somebody who lives in a state where reproductive rights have been restricted.' 'Men can go to any state in the United States and have the same rights no matter where they are,' Somani added. Somani and Rader's bill is similar to another bill with the same name recently introduced in the Mississippi legislature. Under the provisions of that proposed bill, violators wouldn't face jail time but would pay $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for three or more offenses. Somani told WOIO that her bill would make ejaculation a felony, which underscores the point she's trying to make by introducing it. 'We shouldn't be penalizing reproductive care for anybody, and that, again, is why we have the felony piece of this bill,' Somani said. This article originally appeared on HuffPost
Buzz Feed
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Buzz Feed
Lawmakers Just Proposed Making It Illegal For Men To Have Unprotected Sex Unless They Intend To Make A Baby, And YES, This Is REAL
Hot Topic 🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Politics It's a ballsy move, but two Ohio State Representatives have introduced a bill that would make it illegal for men to have unprotected sex if it's not intended to make a baby. If the 'Conception Begins at Erection Act' passes, men in Ohio could be charged with a felony if they 'discharge genetic material' without intending to get a woman pregnant. However, the bill does provide exceptions if the male partner uses protection or contraception, masturbates on their own, donates sperm, or is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Think it sounds nutty? You'll get no arguments from Rep. Anita Somani, who co-sponsored the bill with fellow Democrat Tristan Rader. In an editorial for the Columbus Dispatch, Somani, a gynecologist, admitted she knows 'how ludicrous my sounds' but said that was the point. 'Is my bill offensive because it dares to attack men? Maybe, but again, as an OB/GYN, I'm against regulating anyone's reproductive rights,' she said. Those decisions, she argued, 'should be between the patient and the physician without criminal penalties being built into bills conservative organizations are promoting across the country.' HuffPost has reached out to Somani for details on the bill. In an interview with CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO, Somani said there's no doubt about the damage restrictive abortion laws have had on women. 'What other right do you know of where women have different rights based on where they live versus men?' she asked. 'If I live in a state that protects reproductive rights, I have more rights than somebody who lives in a state where reproductive rights have been restricted.' 'Men can go to any state in the United States and have the same rights no matter where they are,' Somani added. Somani and Rader's bill is similar to another bill with the same name recently introduced in the Mississippi legislature. Under the provisions of that proposed bill, violators wouldn't face jail time but would pay $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for three or more offenses. Somani told WOIO that her bill would make ejaculation a felony, which underscores the point she's trying to make by introducing it. 'We shouldn't be penalizing reproductive care for anybody, and that, again, is why we have the felony piece of this bill,' Somani said.
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Ejaculating without intent' draft bill slammed as ‘mockery of basic biological concepts'
An Ohio draft bill planning to fine men who ejaculate 'without the intent of conception' up to $10,000 has been labelled a 'mockery of basic biological concepts'. Bill authors, Ohio State Representatives Anita Somani and Tristan Rader said in an interview on February 13 that it highlights the hypocrisy of laws regulating women's bodies. 'Men have the same rights no matter where they go in the country. Women's rights depend on where they live,' said Somani. Rader added, 'The point of this bill isn't to get it passed; it's to call out the hypocrisy.' However, Republican Representative Austin Beigel slammed the bill as 'a mockery of the most basic biological concepts,' and introduced his own bill claiming human life begins at conception, and seeking increased legal protections for embryos, under state law. Currently, 10 states have made it illegal for women to have an abortion, even in cases of rape.
