Your WYSO Morning News Update for May 12, 2022, with Mike Frazier:
- Doctor prepares for a country without abortion
(Side Effects) — Much of the Midwest could lose access to abortion if the Supreme Court rules to overturn Roe v. Wade. That includes Michigan, where a 1931 law would make abortion a felony – except when needed to save the patient’s life. Lisa Harris, an OBGYN at Michigan Medicine, said she’s been preparing her hospital system for that possibility. She's told emergency physicians to be ready to care for people who try to self-induce abortions. “There will be some people… who put something inside them, who took a poison or a toxin. Those people you’re going to have to jump and provide critical lifesaving care," Harris said. Harris says this is one of many issues that hospitals will have to address if Roe is overturned and abortion is further restricted. Harris made her comments in an interview on the Tradeoffs podcast.
- Suit filed against Lebanon over abortion ban law
(Statehouse News Bureau) — A lawsuit has been filed against the city of Lebanon over its new law that prevents abortions from being performed within its borders. There are no abortion clinics in Lebanon and none planned there but Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles reports the law is being challenged for another reason. The ACLU of Ohio’s Jessie Hill says the Lebanon law prevents people there from providing information or assistance to pregnant women who are seeking abortion. “It’s just one more attempt to ban abortion at all costs, including by chilling and intimidating people and cutting off protected free speech," Hill said. Hill says the free speech argument is not connected to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling expected next month that could end up overturning the law that allows abortion in all states. The court’s ruling could end up allowing states to ban abortions and Ohio is poised to put a law in place to do that. At that point, women here might have to go to another state.
- AES Ohio wants more time to restore power during outages
(Dayton Daily News) — Dayton utility company AES Ohio wants to update its service reliability standards to give itself more time to restore power during outages. The company filed the request for the change with Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission this week. Representatives from the company say they requested the change because the current standards are outdated. The Ohio Consumers’ Council, a consumer advocacy office, opposes the proposed change.
- New Ohio bill & nuclear energy
(Energy News Network) — A new Ohio bill could bring more nuclear power plants to the state. House Bill 434 would create the Ohio Nuclear Development Authority. That’s a board that would oversee nuclear research and try to attract development of new nuclear plants to the state. Supporters of the bill say it would bring new jobs and generate carbon-free energy in the state. But opponents say the bill is another attempt by Ohio lawmakers to favor a particular form of energy generation. They also say that the Nuclear Development Authority's actions would not be transparent enough to the public. House Bill 434 comes just a few years after the House Bill Six scandal rocked the statehouse. That was a pay-to-play scheme where an energy company spent over $60 million dollars to bailout the failing coal and nuclear plants they owned with tax-payer money. HB 434 passed the house and now goes to the Senate.
- Five Rivers Health Centers Edgemont campus
(WYSO) — Five Rivers Health Center held a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday morning for the grand opening of their Edgemont campus in West Dayton. Center representatives say the new facility will offer a variety of comprehensive health care services. Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. was there and said it's difficult for many in the area to afford health care services. But the new facility will offer care regardless of ability to pay. “This is very, very, very special to this community. This is a really, really, big step in the right direction," Mims said as he addressed the crowd. The mayor also noted that taxpayers won’t have to foot the bill because the facility was funded by donations and loans,.
