Latest news with #R-Xenia
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers seek to ban abortions in the state, treat the procedure as homicide
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A pair of Ohio lawmakers are attempting to ban and criminalize abortion, in a move that directly challenges voters' decision to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution. Reps. Levi Dean (R-Xenia) and Jonathan Newman (R-Troy) introduced the 'Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act' on Wednesday, which would grant embryos and fetuses the same legal protections as citizens under state law from the moment of fertilization. Under the bill, having an abortion could lead to homicide charges. The proposed ban only grants exceptions for 'life-saving procedures' on pregnant women and spontaneous miscarriages. Sweeping property tax reform may save Ohioans $850 The legislation conflicts with a constitutional amendment that was passed by about 56% of voters in 2023, which protects Ohioans' right to make decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and pregnancy. A nonprofit working with the lawmakers, End Abortion Ohio, announced the bill in a news release on Tuesday. The organization claimed Ohio's constitutional amendment protecting abortion should be 'treated as null' because it violates the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution by denying 'preborn persons' the right to life. 'In the Holy Scriptures, All men are created equal, being made in the image of God,' the news release states. 'We must obey God rather than men, and we call upon our governing authorities to follow in that obedience.' Dan Kobil, a professor at Capital University Law School, said that any 'rational court' would rule the legislation unconstitutional if it were to pass the Statehouse. Ohio State lost $29 million in three months through DOGE grant cuts 'The problem for the legislators is that they are bound by the Ohio constitution and cannot enact laws that are contrary to the Ohio constitution,' Kobil said. 'Given how directly this violates the Ohio constitution, this appears to be little more than a publicity stunt.' Kobil further said the organization's argument regarding the U.S. Constitution would not hold up, as the state legislature does not have the authority to 'finally enact' laws under the 14th Amendment. 'If Congress did enact a law saying something like this, then that could override the Ohio constitution, so federal laws do override state constitutions,' Kobil said. 'However, their problem is they're attempting to make a state law that overrides Ohio's constitution, and they've simply not got the authority to do that.' The reproductive rights group Abortion Forward criticized the lawmakers for introducing a bill that directly contradicts voters' choice to enshrine reproductive rights, and stated the effort would strip Ohioans of their ability to make their own healthcare decisions. 'These out-of-touch anti-abortion extremists want to give legal rights to fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses,' Executive Director Kellie Copeland said in a statement. 'Bills like this embolden law enforcement to surveil and investigate people for their actions during pregnancy – families and loved ones could be targeted by law enforcement for helping someone access an abortion, miscarriage care, or even IVF.' Columbus among most bedbug-infested cities in the country, recent analysis finds While Ohio lawmakers have introduced numerous abortion restriction bills over the years, the new act marks the first one that would provide equal protection to embryos and fetuses under the law, according to the news release. Ohio Right to Life, a nonprofit that has long lobbied for abortion restrictions, told NBC4 it does not support the proposed legislation. 'At no time have we supported criminalizing birth mothers who abort their children,' President Mike Gonidokis said. 'Now is not the time to target pregnant women with misguided legislation, but to embrace the fact that women need real choices and life-affirming help to have a healthy child and raise them in Ohio. This legislation does not meet this standard.' Since the beginning of this year, Republican lawmakers in 10 other states have introduced bills that aim to charge pregnant women with homicide if they receive an abortion. Currently, no state legally defines abortion as homicide. The sponsors of Ohio's incoming bill did not immediately answer a request for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers debate whether to ban fluoride from public drinking water
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Some Ohio Republicans want to ban fluoride in public drinking water, because they say it's a matter of personal choice. 'I think it's important for an individual to be able to choose what sort of supplements they're taking, what sort of medical care they're doing, things like that,' Representative Levi Dean (R-Xenia) said. Dean, the freshman lawmaker, is behind House Bill 182. The legislation is short and to the point: 'No public water system shall add fluoride to the water supplied by the system.' Right now, there is a certain fluoride level that public water must be at. Some plants need to dampen it, some need to hike it up. Dean says those systems should not have that say. Columbus Public Health terminates some employees early due to federal funding cuts 'Your neighbor or the government shouldn't be able to tell you what you have to ingest into your body,' he said. 'If you want to apply fluoride, this bill still allows you to do that. It's just saying you can't force someone to swallow and ingest fluoride by putting it into the water stream.' Dean said this bill came about after he heard from some local elected officials 'who were interested in removing fluoride from the water,' but were not allowed to under Ohio law. Then, he said he heard the same from his constituents. 'They didn't want to have fluoride,' he said. 'They wanted to have personal choice.' What about the health benefits of fluoride? Dr. Matthew Messina, DDS and Associate Professor an The Ohio State College of Dentistry said in short, it helps stop tooth decay. 'Fluoride helps because it makes tooth enamel harder or stronger, more resistant to the acid, which reduces the risk of decay,' he said. Messina said controlled amounts of fluoride in drinking water helps 'build strong teeth for a lifetime.' He said one of the big benefits of having it in public water is that it reaches everyone. Former Ohio governor speaks about current political climate Dean argues, for the people who want it, it is in many toothpastes and mouth washes. 'I don't know why they wouldn't just brush their teeth with fluoride, which most of them probably already do,' Dean said. 'That's a better application in general.' 'We've been trying to tell people for generations to brush their teeth. But there's a sizable percentage of the people that still don't brush their teeth every day. So, this is a way that helps them get the benefits of fluoride in the water,' Messina said. But he said he thinks back to when fluoride was taken out of public water in Calgary, Alberta, Canada back in 2011 and where they are now, nearly a decade and a half later. 'They have discovered an increase in the prevalence of [tooth] decay in the community,' he said. There are more cavities which leads to unfortunately more dentistry being done. And so, they're seeing the cost of dental care going up.' Messina said fluoride in public water was 'hailed as one of the best and one of the most successful public health efforts in the 20th century,' and said going would mean that 'everybody would have to step up their game,' when it comes to oral hygiene. 'A huge achievement like that is something that we just don't ever want to risk going back from,' he said. Dean said under this bill, those who wanted to add fluoride to water themselves would not be stopped and said he already has an idea for a tweak to the legislation too. 'We could in the bill have an amendment to say, 'hey, your leftover reserve can be distributed to individuals who want to come and pick it up and then add it to their own water stream and drink it if they'd like,'' Dean said. 'Fluoride was added to water because it produced a tremendous effect in reducing decay in some of our most vulnerable populations,' Messina said. As far as leadership goes, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he does not know whether he thinks fluoride should stay in water. 'Lots of people have been talked about that over the last few years and they were dismissed. And now there appears to be some science that says too much fluoride, including adding fluoride, is bad for folks. So, I mean, I not a scientist, I'm not a chemist,' Huffman said. 'We're going to sort of litigate that question, not in the courtroom, in the legislature here, over the next couple of months. So, I don't know the answer to your question.' On the other side of the aisle, Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said as someone who has a background in public health, she thinks the bill is 'misguided.' 'I see this as a basic human right in the United States of America,' she said. 'I think the expectation of every household in this country is that you have access to clean tap water in your household. And anything that threatens that, I'm going to be opposed to.' The bill is assigned to the Ohio House Natural Resources Committee and awaits its first hearing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
