Cryptopolytech Public Press Pass
Title: Abortion clinic closes, voter registration jumps
Originally reported on www.dispatch.com by Anna Staver
200000048 – World Newser
•| World |•| Online |•| Media |•| Outlet |•| News |•| World |
Abortion clinic closes, voter registration jumps
An abortion clinic is set to close its doors soon while women continued to outpace men in new voter registrations in Ohio. Democrats also took some heat for criticizing the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.
We break down what it all means on this week’s episode of Ohio Politics Explained.
A podcast from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau where we catch you up on the state’s political news in 15 minutes or less. This week, host Anna Staver was joined by reporter Jessie Balmert.
1) Abortion clinic to close
The only abortion clinic in Dayton announced plans to close in mid-September.
Women’s Medical Center operates two clinics, one in Dayton and one in Indianapolis. Both locations will close unless legal interventions reverse state laws that went into effect this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protections for abortions.
“We are going to see as many people and do as much for these people as we can until we close down,’’ Dr. Jeanne Corwin told the Associated Press.
But the clinic no longer has enough patients to stay open. Ohio’s law bans abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is about four weeks after conception.
2) Voter registration after Roe
Two different analyses of Ohio’s voter registration since the overturning of Roe v. Wade showed women outpacing men.
TargetSmart, a Democratic data company, put female registrations 11 percentage points ahead of men while the New York Times estimated them to be about 6%. And Democratic groups large and small reported influxes of volunteers, especially among suburban women.
Republicans say it won’t change the outcome of statewide elections in November, but Democrats see new paths to victory in a post-Roe world.
3) Student loan reversals?
Tim Ryan and Nan Whaley, two Democrats running for statewide office, took some heat this week from both parties for appearing to flip flop in their support for student loan forgiveness.
“This policy is not fair to the thousands of Ohioans who made the decision to not attend college because of the cost or for those who have already paid off their loans,” Whaley said in a statement Monday.
But in December 2020 she signed a letter written by fellow mayors that asked incoming President Joe Biden to extend student loan forgiveness.
A spokesperson for Whaley’s gubernatorial campaign said the former Dayton mayor has always been wary of student loan forgiveness, and she signed that 2020 letter because it also included policies to help working families.
4) Backyard oil wells
Ohio was once the center of oil and gas exploration in America. Today, the Buckeye State has more than 250,000 oil wells drilled under the ground and about 40% of them are likely abandoned.
These orphan wells (those without owners) are the state’s responsibility to find and properly plug before they leak or damage nearby waterways. It’s a big job, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is just starting to ramp up its search.
Listen to “Ohio Politics Explained” on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link in this article.
The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau serves The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
From an External Source.
First to share? If share image does not populate, please close the share box & re-open or reload page to load the image, Thanks!