Our Policy Team is tracking 44 bills in Ohio, and we need your help this week!
First, the good news: Ohio has an opportunity to repeal a current law that allows children to marry at 17 by passing SB 341. Believe it or not, child marriage is still a widespread problem in the United States, despite the fact that the State Department has called forced marriage before age 18 a “human rights abuse.” A 2019 investigation by the Dayton Daily News found that over 4,000 young girls were married in Ohio between 2000 and 2015 — including “one pregnant [14-year-old] bride who married a 48-year-old man.”
SB 341 is a bipartisan effort to end this practice that faced no public opposition during any of its four hearings this year, and yet it’s been stalled for weeks by a small group of Republican lawmakers. Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee TODAY, and urge its members to protect children and pass SB 341!
We also urgently need your help to STOP these bills:
>> OH HB21, or the Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSM) Freedom to Share Act, would exempt faith-based HCSMs from state insurance laws and regulations and hand a tax break to members. What are HCSMs? Religious entities that limit membership to individuals who share their religious beliefs, charge monthly dues, and present themselves as insurance companies even though they aren’t required to pay claims or provide even minimum essential coverage. Why is it a very bad idea to say they aren’t subject to the law? Check out this investigative piece from ProPublica about an Ohio-based HCSM with a long and well-documented history of fraud. Submit your testimony to the Senate Financial Institutions, Insurance & Technology Committee NOW, and urge them to oppose this bill.
>> This Wednesday, Ohio’s Senate Health Committee will consider two anti-abortion measures: HB 347 and HB 324. American Atheists strongly opposes both of these bills, which would restrict Ohioans’ access to evidence-based reproductive health care based on some politicians’ religious beliefs. Submit your testimony NOW, and remind the Health Committee that Ohioans understand abortion rights are constitutional rights.
Lawmakers in Columbus need to hear directly from voters and local constituents, like you. Please contact them TODAY, and ensure nonreligious Ohioans’ voices are heard. And consider making a contribution to American Atheists in support of advocacy work in Ohio and nationwide.
Thank you,
Sam McGuire
Director of Grassroots Organizing & Advocacy
PS: If you have any questions about these bills, our position on them, or the process to submit written testimony or to testify in person, please email our team at [email protected].