Medical Discrimination has no home in Lakewood or Ohio

In recent days, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the Ohio state budget, with a particular line item that has caused tremendous uproar from medical professionals, civil rights organizations, and the general public.

Included in the $74 billion, 2,400-page budget was a clause allowing health care workers, hospitals, and health insurance companies to refuse to provide or pay for medical services on the basis of moral, ethical, or religious objection. Critics of this language were quick to act, and rightfully so. The mere inclusion of this language allows medical professionals to deny services to LGBTQ+ patients on the basis of moral objection.

Why, then if 14 other line-items included in the budget were vetoed by DeWine, was this allowed to stay? According to the Governor, it is because healthcare in Ohio is plentiful, and anyone who is discriminated against can simply find another provider. In reality, this is not the case, as there are 159 Primary Care Provider Shortage Areas, and 120 Mental Health Provider Shortage Areas throughout the State, largely in rural areas.

Early criticism has come from the Ohio Hospital Association, the Ohio Insurance Association, and the Human Rights Campaign, to name a few. The new law puts the medical rights of over 380,000 Ohio residents in jeopardy, one of the largest LGBTQIA+ populations in the country.

It is up to Ohioans everywhere to decry this blatant discrimination and pandering to the anti-LGBTQ+ interest groups. This is a hateful practice that leaves people’s lives in the balance. I urge all Lakewood residents, healthcare workers, and LGBTQIA+ Allies to call the Governor’s Office and publicly speak out against this discrimination, calling for a repeal of this new law.