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Recently, anti-abortion activists in Ohio have rallied around a bill endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee. These activists want to bar women from getting abortions solely because they do not wish to have a baby with Down syndrome.
The legislature is expected to approve the measure this fall because lawmakers endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, which supports the bill, make up more than two-thirds of both houses.
Although Republican presidential candidate and current Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) has yet taken a position on this bill, he has signed numerous abortion restrictions, including a law that requires women to have an ultrasound and be offered a chance to see an image of the fetus before undergoing the procedure.
According to an academic article reviewing research studies from 1995 to 2011, between 60 and 90 percent of fetal Down syndrome diagnoses lead to abortion.
Even though abortion rights lawyers say such a law would violate the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which guarantees a woman's right to seek an abortion until the fetus is viable; it forces one to disclose the current landscape of the home health care industry in Ohio.
Certain Ohioans with disabilities or chronic conditions who receive care at home through Medicaid face an uphill battle to ensure the hands that help them bathe, get dressed and tend to their daily needs are those that are true and trusted.
A proposal in Republican Gov. John Kasich's two-year state budget would direct the state to accept billings for such Medicaid services from certified home-health-care agencies, not independent health aids, nurses or other providers.
This means the 16,000 individuals who receive help from more than 13,000 independent workers would have to make other arrangements, either through a home-health agency or by becoming the providers' employer.
The transition would happen over four years, if approved by state lawmakers.
The move comes as the Kasich administration seeks to reduce Medicaid fraud and improve care by using home-health agencies, which officials say have more oversight.
Is this really the best solution to Medicaid fraud, or is this yet another bill to encourage big business? Much like Gov. Kasich's goal was to curb union power and reduce public oversight of public schools, he is on track to do the same with home-health care. On May 22, 2015, Kasich rescinded a pair of executive orders allowing home health-care workers and child-care workers who do business with the state to unionize.
SEIU District 1199 President Becky Williams said in a statement that she was "appalled" by the decision.
"By stripping collective bargaining rights from home care and childcare workers," Williams stated, "Kasich is effectively attempting to silence thousands of low-wage workers, women and people of color from their ability to advocate for their clients and preserve quality care and services to the children, seniors and people with disabilities in our communities."
Williams also compared Kasich's action to another collective-bargaining overhaul for public workers, Senate Bill 5, which was later repealed by Ohio voters.
As a proud Ohio resident, it's embarrassing to watch Governor Kasich set the foundation of his presidential candidacy around "balancing the budget". The truth is, as he stands on stage with a microphone in front of his face, he never explains exactly how he does so.
With this said, you must ask yourself if you'd rather put your child with a disability in the hands of a cheap, under-qualified Wal-Mart associate or an extended family member. As we all know, 'more oversight' doesn't mean more quality and silencing those with the most knowledge and experience in an industry in which you claim you are attempting to improve, is regressive.
My mother has been an independent nurse for more than a decade. Driving round trip, 130 miles every day to care for three boys, each diagnosed with separate disabilities in their own home. Often time, my mother spends holidays, weekends and her very own birthday working, with what she calls, her second family. No home-health agency can match the compassion my mother has dedicated over the past 10 years. Not only has she raised my brother and myself, she has also improved the lives of three others.
So I ask you Mr. Kasich, why don't you match YOUR compassion for the fetus of an unborn child with Down syndrome, with that of those who are adolescents, teenagers, adults and senior citizens with Down syndrome; AS WELL as those who actually dedicate their lives to keeping them alive and well?