LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Since 2004

Tag: State Rep. Jena Powell

  • Near total abortion ban proposed in Ohio mimics Texas law but goes further

    Near total abortion ban proposed in Ohio mimics Texas law but goes further

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN and Ohio Capital Journal

    Jean Schmidt representing the Loveland Area is a co-sponsor

    A new abortion ban bill created in conjunction with a Virginia-based anti-abortion group has been introduced in Ohio that mimics a Texas law currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, but goes further by proposing to ban nearly all abortions.

    State Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum, introduced House Bill 480 on Tuesday, which allows civil lawsuits against anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” including paying for an abortion even through the use of insurance, according to the language of the bill. State Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., is also a sponsor.

     State Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum

    The bill allows a defense against civil action for abortions “designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant mother and the physician made reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with conventional medical practice.”

    In announcing the bill, Powell called the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide a “constitutional fiction,” saying her bill “utilizes the enforcement mechanism from the successful Texas Heartbeat Act,” currently under court challenge with the U.S. Supreme Court.

     State Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp.

    While the Texas case revolves around the detection of a noise during ultrasounds early in pregnancy that doctors describe as electric activity and anti-abortion advocates call a heartbeat — a characterization physicians say is inaccurate — Powell’s proposed legislation has no such standard and would constitute a near total abortion ban. With 33 Republican cosponsors alongside the two sponsors, support for the bill represents more than half the GOP caucus.

    The bill comes after Powell spoke at a Los Angeles event for the Arlington, Virginia-based anti-abortion non-profit LiveAction, which said they are partnering with “leaders across the nation starting with Representative Powell” in conjunction with the launch of their campaign.

    Cosponsors in the Ohio House of Representatives:

    Adam C. Bird,

    Thomas E. Brinkman Jr.

    Sara P. Carruthers

    Gary Click

    Rodney Creech

    Jon Cross

    Al Cutrona

    Bill Dean

    Ron Ferguson

    Sarah Fowler Arthur

    Haraz N. Ghanbari

    Timothy E. Ginter

    Diane V. Grendell

    Jennifer Gross

    Marilyn S. John

    Mark Johnson

    Kris Jordan

    Darrell Kick

    J. Kyle Koehler

    Mike Loychik

    Susan Manchester

    Riordan T. McClain

    Derek Merrin

    Kevin D. Miller

    Tracy M. Richardson

    Craig S. Riedel

    Jean Schmidt

    Reggie Stoltzfus

    D. J. Swearingen

    Scott Wiggam

    Bob Young

    Tom Young

    Paul Zeltwanger

    “The campaign, which kicked off in front of thousands at the Santa Monica Pier, aims to ensure every American knows that abortion is the leading cause of death for children, and to ultimately save every child,” LiveAction said in a press release about the bill.

    The CDC does not list abortion as a leading cause of death for children from age 1 to 14 years old. It lists accidents, “congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities” and cancer as the leading causes for children from age 1 to 9, with intentional self-harm (suicide) replacing congenital issues as a leading cause for children 10 to 14 years old.

    Ohio’s 2020 abortion report from the Ohio Department of Health showed 20,605 abortions in 2020, more than half of which were induced at less than nine weeks gestation. Of the 441 abortions induced in 19 or more weeks gestation, none were considered viable in medical testing, including ultrasounds.

    Abortion is legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks gestation.

    Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio say banning abortion would be catastrophic to communities across Ohio.

    “Lawmakers and anti-abortion vigilantes have no business making personal medical decisions for their neighbors,” said Lauren Blauvelt-Copelin, Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Advocacy for PPAO.

    Advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio said the bill would have “dangerous” impacts on already marginalized communities in the state, and continue a targeted trend for elected officials in the state.

    “If all dominos fall in the wrong direction, abortion could be illegal in Ohio by July,” said NARAL executive director Kellie Copeland in a statement. “Every pro-choice Ohioans must register and vote.”

    The bill has all-Republican support, which gives it better odds of passage with the legislature’s Republican supermajority.

    The abortion ban is one of several pieces of abortion legislation making their way through Ohio’s General Assembly. A “trigger” bill that would ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned is currently in Senate committee, and a bill targeting what sponsors called “failed” abortions, a statistically rare occurrence in Ohio, passed through the state Senate, and is headed for House consideration.

  • With drawing days away, Ohio legislation seeks to stop Vax-A-Million program

    With drawing days away, Ohio legislation seeks to stop Vax-A-Million program

    By Tyler Buchanan and Ohio Capital Journal

    Five Ohioans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are about to win $1 million through a new vaccine lottery program, but a Republican lawmaker wants to call the whole thing off.

    State Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum, is drafting legislation that would prevent the state from administering any vaccine lottery program. 

    Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans have already signed up for the Vax-A-Million lottery, which will begin May 26 and include five weekly drawings of $1 million prizes. Participants must be at least 18 years old and have received at least their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

    State Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum

    There is a separate lottery program for those between the ages of 12 and 17, with the teenage winners receiving a full ride scholarship to any Ohio college or university. 

    The prize money will come from federal relief funds that have already been allocated to the Ohio Department of Health.

    There is some early evidence that vaccinations have ticked upward since that announcement, and two other states have now introduced their own version of a vaccine lottery.

    The Vax-A-Million program has received plenty of attention since Gov. Mike DeWine first announced the drawings last week. The reaction from Ohio lawmakers has been universally negative; legislators from both political parties have condemned the idea as an ill-conceived waste of taxpayer money.

    “As elected leaders, we’re obligated to take seriously our duty to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron, said in a recent statement. “Using millions of dollars in relief funds in a drawing is a grave misuse of money that could be going to respond to this ongoing crisis. Ohioans deserve better than this. I do hope people continue to get the vaccine and help our state reach herd immunity so our economy and way of life can thrive again.”

    State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, issued a statement calling for “additional accountability” from the Ohio General Assembly regarding the Vax-A-Million program.

    Bills normally require a 3-month waiting period until being enacted. Powell’s legislation includes an emergency clause for it to go into effect immediately in order to “prevent the COVID-19 vaccination lottery from taking place.”

    Along with prohibiting Vax-A-Million, Powell proposes to redirect the funding used for these drawings toward either children’s mental health initiatives or to small business relief grants.

    Gov. Mike DeWine is pictured during a statewide address on the pandemic. He announced a Vax-A-Million vaccine lottery in order to spur Ohioans to get their COVID-19 shots Photo courtesy the Ohio Channel.

    The Ohio Capital Journal left a message with Powell’s office seeking more information about the legislation, which has not yet been formally introduced. Given the normal timeframe of the legislative process, the likelihood of this halting the Vax-A-Million drawings appears to be a longshot.

    Powell has been among the harshest critics of DeWine’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, repeatedly characterizing his aggressive steps taken to prevent the virus from spreading as curbing Ohioans’ freedoms. She has blasted attempts to mitigate the pandemic, from masks to social distancing, and spent much of 2020 undercutting the state health department’s messaging — even as the virus raged in her native Darke County late last year.

    Powell represents Darke and Miami counties in the Ohio House of Representatives’ 80th District. Both counties lag behind the statewide vaccination rate.

    As of Friday, nearly 44% of Ohioans had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Just 29% of those in Darke County had received one along with 36% in Miami County, according to Ohio Department of Health (ODH) data.

    “Ohioans don’t want giveaways to mask (DeWine’s) horrible policy for the past year,” Powell wrote on Facebook, “they want freedom.”

  • Trump swipe at DeWine follows year of campaign support, and COVID-19 praise

    Trump swipe at DeWine follows year of campaign support, and COVID-19 praise

    President Donald Trump meeting with governors, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

    By Tyler Buchanan

    A year of Gov. Mike DeWine defending the president’s pandemic response and supporting his reelection effort was undone by a brief acknowledgment of reality on cable TV.

    To President Donald Trump, one comment is all it takes for someone to go from political ally to persona non grata.

    On Sunday, DeWine said on CNN that Trump has a right to legally challenge the 2020 election result, but should begin working toward a transition for President-elect Joe Biden. That clip was aired Monday morning on Fox News, a network Trump frequently watches at the White House, leading the president to target DeWine’s own reelection hopes in 2022:

    This tweet to the president’s 89 million followers bookends a year in which DeWine has consistently praised Trump and frequently dodged questions related to the president’s handling of the pandemic.

    DeWine’s office issued this statement in response to the president’s tweet: “I have always had a great working relationship with the President. I am proud to have served as President Trump’s Campaign Co-Chairman in Ohio where we won by the largest margin of any swing state in the country. And I intend to run a winning campaign for governor in 2022.”

    DeWine served as an honorary co-chair to Trump’s campaign in Ohio and recorded a video in support of Trump for the 2020 Republican National Convention. His lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, spoke at a Trump rally in September in favor of the president’s reelection — though the crowd of Trump supporters booed Husted for promoting mask-wearing to prevent COVID-19 spread. 

    While DeWine has emphasized the need for masks and social distancing, Trump has often undercut this public health message by hosting large campaign rallies and downplaying the effectiveness of face coverings.

    DeWine has sidestepped questions from reporters about these contradicting messages, instead choosing to praise the White House for its conference calls with governors and for its work in helping develop a vaccine. 

    The Trump tweet came anyway. 

    The president’s suggestion of a Republican primary comes as DeWine faces increasingly sharp attacks from seemingly all sides regarding his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Democratic leaders, who have generally been supportive of the Republican governor and the Ohio Department of Health, want him to take more aggressive steps to slow the spread as Ohio sees record numbers of infections and hospitalizations.

    Republican legislators have dialed up their own criticism of their party’s leader, insisting DeWine should refrain from issuing any further health orders such as business shutdowns.

    DeWine earned very high marks from the general public early in the pandemic for his aggressive response in partnership with then-Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton. That support led to widespread cooperation in the early weeks as the two enacted business closures and a stay-at-home order.

    Support for DeWine has gradually waned in the months since, though a Great Lakes poll in September found a majority of Ohioans still viewed DeWine’s coronavirus response favorably.

    Hours after Trump’s tweet, DeWine did receive a compliment from President-elect Joe Biden at a Monday afternoon press conference. Biden referred to DeWine as a leader in having “stepped up” to issue a mask mandate in Ohio.

    Outside of the electoral ramifications of Trump’s tweet, the public sentiment over the Ohio pandemic approach may impact DeWine’s ability to amass future cooperation for any health orders still to come.

    DeWine has hinted that orders pertaining to bars, restaurants and social gatherings could come as soon as this week. 

    The governor spent early Monday in West Virginia speaking to TV stations which broadcast to the southern and eastern portions of Ohio. DeWine has offered region-specific messages to Ohioans about the virus spike and how residents can slow the spread in their areas.

    With this year’s election now over, some Ohio Republicans have begun turning their attention to 2022. Among them is Jim Renacci, a former Congressman from Medina County and fervent Trump supporter who ran for governor against DeWine in 2017. Renacci quit the Republican primary to instead campaign for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown, who defeated Renacci in the 2018 General Election.

    State Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum, has offered a similar view.

    “The solution today is taking away (DeWine’s) emergency powers,” Powell wrote on Facebook after the governor’s statewide address on Nov. 11. “The solution in two years is to not re-elect Mike DeWine.”

    Powell shared Trump’s tweet in agreement.

    “Even President Donald J. Trump knows Governor Mike DeWine is doing a terrible job,” she posted. “Ohio needs conservative leadership that actually represent the people first.”

    Some Ohio Democrats see the Trump tweet as a political lesson.

    U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is another Republican facing reelection in 2022. He has not yet acknowledged the presidential election result.