Stay engaged, involved, and up-to-date: 12/11/17 Week in Review


Stay engaged, involved, and up-to-date: In the weekly reviews from the Women’s Public Policy Network, we look back on last week’s highlights from the WPPN, share updates on bills affecting women that are moving at the Statehouse, showcase weekly news clips, and provide calls to action on bills pending in the Legislature. Sign up for our emails to receive these updates in your inbox every week!


 

LOOKING AHEAD: PARTNER EVENTS THIS UPCOMING WEEK  

Monday, December 18
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
61 Jefferson Ave, Columbus, OH 43215-3840
The Pro-Choice community in Columbus can help secure access to safe and legal abortion care throughout Ohio. We’ll be supporting efforts in Northwest Ohio to make sure their only abortion provider remains open to the public. Volunteers will be calling Toledo residents to ask them to urge ProMedica to sign a transfer agreement with Capital Care Network. This may be the last and only chance to ensure women have access to abortion in that community. Find out more here. 
 
Visit our Partner Events Calendar for more details on future events hosted by our coalition partners across the state
.

#OHLEG ALERT
We are tracking the progress of any state bills affecting women in the Ohio Legislature for the 132nd General Assembly. Here’s a quick overview of some key highlights from this past week. This was the last legislative week of 2017, so there will be no new updates until the start of next year.
  • HB 1 (Sykes, Manning) – Dating Protection Orders: Modernizes Ohio’s domestic violence laws by extending victims of dating violence access to DV protections, such as civil protection orders. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a fourth hearing with all testimony on Tuesday, December 12. During the hearing, Committee Chairman Bacon said that interested parties are working on a substitute version of the bill. You can find all testimony from the hearing here (look under Committee Documents for December 12).
  • HB 214 (LaTourette, Merrin) – Down Syndrome Abortion Ban: This bill would charge a doctor with a fourth degree felony if they performed an abortion procedure for a woman if the reason for seeking to terminate the pregnancy is in part due to a Down syndrome diagnosis. There is an identical Senate bill moving through the legislature right now, as well. The Senate Health, Human Services & Medicaid Committee held a first hearing on the bill with all testimony this past Tuesday, December 12. The bill was voted out of Committee along party-lines and sent to the full Senate for consideration on Wednesday, December 13. The Senate passed the bill by a 20-12 vote, and was delivered to Governor Kasich who has 10 days to either sign it into law or veto it. You can find all testimony from the Committee Hearing, including testimony from a number of our partners, here (look under Committee Documents for December 12). 
  • HB 258 (Hagan, Hood) – Six-week Abortion Ban: Outlaws abortion at the earliest detection of a fetal heartbeat, which is as early as six weeks – at a time before many women even know that they are pregnant. The House Health Committee held a fourth hearing on the bill this past week and voted the bill out of Committee along party-lines. It will now move on to the full House for consideration. You can find all testimony from the hearing here, including testimony from many of our partner organizations (look under Hearings for documents from December 13).
  • HB 298 (Merrin) – Sick Days: This legislation would decrease the number of sick days provided to public employees (city, county, school, and college employees) in Ohio from 15 days to 10 days. The House State & Local Government Committee held a first hearing for sponsor testimony on Tuesday, December 12. You can find all testimony from the hearing here(look under hearings from December 12).
     
  • HB 365 (Hughes, Boggs) – The Reagan Tokes Act: Requires released violent offenders wearing GPS monitors to have set geographic boundaries and would give law enforcement the ability to access the GPS data without a subpoena. The House Criminal Justice Committee held a fourth hearing on the bill on Tuesday, December 12 with all testimony. You can find all testimony from the hearing here (look under hearings from December 12).
  • SB 4 (Kunze, Oelslager) – Human Trafficking: Identical legislation to HB56, this bill would expand the expungement law for human trafficking survivors to include criminal records. The bill has already passed out of the Senate and received a third hearing in the House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday, December 12. You can find all testimony from the hearing here(look under hearings from December 12).
  • SB 28 (Uecker) – Abortion: Would require fetal remains from a surgical abortion at an abortion facility to be disposed of by cremation or burial. The Senate Government & Oversight Committee held a second hearing for proponent testimony on Tuesday, December 12. You can find all testimony from the hearing here (look under Committee Documents from December 12).
  • SB 101 (Skindell) – Employment Practices: Known as “fair scheduling” legislation, this bill would regulate certain employment practices of retail and food services employers, such as requiring employers to post schedules publicly at least two weeks in advance and to compensate employees whose shifts are changed with little notice. The Senate Transportation, Commerce & Workforce Committee held a first hearing for sponsor testimony on Wednesday, December 13. You can find all testimony from the hearing here (look under Committee Documents from December 13). 
  • SB 214 (Terhar, Lehner) – Genital Mutilation: This bill would prohibit female genital mutilation (FGM) for girls under 18, even without the defense of “cultural or ritual necessity” or consent from the girl or her parents. Ohio is still one of two dozen states that does not ban FGM. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a first hearing for sponsor testimony on the bill on Tuesday, December 12. You can find all testimony from the hearing here(look under Committee Documents from December 12).
We will keep tracking any new updates and will be sharing timely legislative updates on these and other women-centric legislation on Twitter using the #OHLeg hashtag. Follow us to stay up-to-date on what’s happening at the Statehouse.

RAISE YOUR VOICE TO STOP THE BANS
 
This past week, the Ohio legislature passed the Down syndrome abortion ban (HB214) out of the House and Senate. The legislation would charge a doctor with a fourth degree felony if they performed an abortion procedure for a woman if the reason for seeking to terminate the pregnancy is in part due to a Down syndrome diagnosis.
During a time when Ohio women and families are facing a complex prenatal diagnosis, lawmakers should not stand in the way of a health care decision that should, instead, be a decision informed by comprehensive medical information and made in consultation with a woman’s family and doctor.

The bill was delivered to Governor Kasich for consideration on December 15, and he has 10 days from when he received the legislation to either sign it into law or veto it. If signed, it would be the 20th restriction to abortion and reproductive health he has signed since taking office in 2011. 

Join us in calling on Governor Kasich to veto this unconstitutional abortion ban. Here’s how you can take action:
  1. Call Governor Kasich: Call his office at (614) 466-3555 and urge him to veto this unconstitutional abortion ban (HB214), which is a clear intrusion on the doctor-patient relationship. Tell him that as a pre-viability abortion ban, the bill is blatantly unconstitutional and that a similar abortion ban was blocked in Indiana earlier this year.
  2. Email Governor Kasich: Sign the petition from our partners at NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio urging Governor Kasich to veto this harmful legislation. You can also use this letter writing tool from our partners at Innovation Ohio Education Fund urging a veto of HB214.