OneAngryAlly: Screwy Voting Laws in Ohio Continue

Greetings, OAQ readers! While Ian Awesome is busily holding down the activism fort, I'm going to try to toss up a few news stories. First, I'll begin with typical OneAngryAlly fare - ridiculous things that could only happen in the great state which I currently call home.

After the 2010 census, Ohio had to eliminate two Congressional districts (why people wouldn't want to move here is beyond me). Naturally, something like this has the potential to be upsetting, at least to the two representatives whose districts were squished, but the resulting map, drawn by Republican leaders in the state, has left many Ohioans scratching their heads.


The map divides major cities, such as Toledo, as well as carving chunks out of smaller counties, seemingly without reason. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (one of my personal favorites) now has a district spanning a few hundred miles along the northern edge of Ohio (see that green thing that looks like pond scum creeping along the bottom of Lake Erie? That's his district).

Anyway, state Democratic leaders have begun to fight this, seeking to implement changes or put a referendum on the ballot. Turns out, though, that trying to change Congressional districts that have already been changed, and in an election year, isn't quite so simple.

State law mandates that elections for U.S. senate and most state and local offices be held during the March primary. However, should the re-re-districting succeed, the candidates also, by law, still need 90 days prior to the election to file. To allow time for this, and also for further debate, the election for U.S. House was postponed until June 12. Guess what came with it? The presidential primary.

Yes. Ohio is now having two primaries. And the, dare I say, really important one (as Ohio has long been a battleground state in elections) is not until June. Iowa and New Hampshire are having a "who can have the first primary" contest, Ohio does them one better in having more primaries than anyone else; as the date of the first primary moves ever earlier, Ohioans could select their party choice for president SIX MONTHS following the first primary. Not to mention that Ohio voters, famous for being disenfranchised/confused at every turn by our darling state's government, now have to remember to vote not once, but twice, and in June?! Something tells me that voter turnout is going to be extremely low for both.

I don't know about you all, but the thought that the primaries, any way you stack it, are so close fills me with a shiver of excitement and quite a bit of stone-cold fear. Who else is ready to celebrate New Year's by voting in primary elections?

OneAngryAlly: The Heartbeat Bill Keeps on Pumping

What a wonderful week this has been! I rejoiced as DADT finally ended, college students continue to express reverence for soldiers missing in the line of duty, and Oregon won't be playing Texas in football anytime soon. Not all news this week, however, was worth rejoicing.

On the same day that surely saw countless celebrations of our equal freedoms finally progressing forward, in Columbus, Ohio, there was another sort of mass gathering. Yesterday, several hundred pro-lifers gathered at the Ohio Statehouse to demonstrate in support of HB 125. Nicknamed the "heartbeat bill," this piece of legislation would give Ohio one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country; approved by the Ohio House in June, it's awaiting Senate approval.

Apparently this is as crazy as those anti-abortion activists get.

The bill would outlaw any abortions after a heartbeat could be detected. This usually happens by 6-7 weeks, and as early as 22 days after conception. At this point, many women are indeed fortunate enough to know that they are pregnant, to have surveyed their options, and to be ready to choose abortion. However, for many, many women this is not the case. This law would effectively ban abortions in the state of Ohio, and it is so extreme that even the Ohio Right to Life group (which exists mainly to support pro-life legislation) opposes the bill.

Other pro-lifers are not so wise, querying (this is my favorite), "How many wonderful Americans are not on this earth because of abortion?" Yeah. Because our biggest problem these days is underpopulation.

That this bill could pass in the state of Ohio alarms and offends me; I am comforted only by the knowledge that it is unconstitutional, going against Roe v. Wade, and would ultimately not stand up in court. Nonetheless, I wrote my state Senator Troy Balderson (who was appointed a few months ago - the senator he replaced turned his back on the working-class families in his district, advocating and voting for a major anti-union bill before magically remarkably getting a job as a lobbyist for a coal-related company. Just another day in the life in Ohio....):

"HB 125 is an assault of the most egregious sort on women's health in the state of Ohio. This bill allows women no control over their own bodies; this assumption of women's decision-making capabilities is downright offensive in this day and age. What would you do if it were your daughter or sister who found themselves with a pregnancy at a time where they would have been absolutely unable to care for the child?

This bill could ban abortions as early as three weeks into a pregnancy
- a time where even the healthiest, wealthiest women rarely know they
are pregnant. It essentially outlaws abortion, giving Ohio one of the
strictest anti-choice laws in the nation. Do you want that on your
record?

As you try to balance the state budget, think about how much more
difficult it will become as you have to educate, feed, and clothe these
offspring of what will surely be Ohio's newest baby boom.

You were appointed to serve in the Ohio senate to represent the wishes
of your constituency. Please abide by that promise, and show us that
the 20th District can yet again be proud of its senator who, regardless
of party lines, respects the demographic from which he hails."

Are you from Ohio? Email or call your senator and ask him or her to respect women's rights, and the constitution! Ah, there's nothing sexier than a man or lady who respects my anatomy, autonomy, and America!