In Final Weeks, Ohio Lawmakers Rush to Pass Laws Impacting Women
It’s the last full week of business for the Ohio General Assembly before legislators adjourn for the summer, and lawmakers are busily working to pass a number of measures that would impact women.
Closing Abortion Clinics – In what is becoming a ritual every two years, amendments were added to the state budget (House Bill 64) that would make it even more difficult to obtain a legal abortion in Ohio. One provision requires clinics to have written agreements with private hospitals within 30 miles, clearly aimed at closing Toledo’s last remaining clinic whose agreement is with a hospital in Ann Arbor, approximately 50 miles away. Another, which could have the effect of closing the only clinics in Dayton and Cincinnati, states that the state Health Department must deny after 60 days any request to waive certain requirements to operate. The first amendment was stripped from the bill in a deal brokered by Democratic Senator Sandra Williams, but the latter remains in the bill. [Read more…]