Discrimination is Discrimination...No Matter What you Call it




On June 30th Governor Mike Dewine (R-OH) signed Ohio's two year budget. Given that it was crafted by the Trump loving Ohio GOP, it was heavy on tax cuts and gimme's for the donor class. Buried in that budget bill, however, was a provision that was pure...red...meat for the religious extremist wing of the GOP.

The budget contains a provision which codifies discrimination against the LGBTQ community into law. This measure allows "health care workers, hospitals and health insurance providers to deny services that violate their moral or religious beliefs". There is so much wrong with this, but let me start by saying, as a critical care nurse myself, any physician, nurse, pharmacist, or any other member of the allied healthcare professions who would deny care to anyone...on the basis of "moral or religious beliefs", needs to surrender their licenses and leave their respective professions.

DeWine had the option to use the line item veto to remove this pernicious, discriminatory provision from the spending bill. Instead, he let it stand, as he "enshrined LGBTQ discrimination into law". This as a sop to the religious extremists filling the ranks of the GOP here in Ohio. He justified it by saying the following:

 

“In the real world, most of those rights are not only recognized and exercised by medical professionals, but they’re being accepted by other medical professionals,” DeWine said. “That is the way the world generally works. This is basically put in statute and codified.” - Cleveland.com

 

"They're being accepted by other medical professionals..."? How many times in American history have we heard similar logic applied to the denial of equal access to medical care, and other benefits, to minorities in America.

DeWine went on to say, "“People are not going to be discriminated against in regards to medical care,..We have a vibrant medical care system in the state of Ohio." The sad truth here is that Ohio ranks 37th in the nation in terms of healthcare. Ohio's major metropolitan areas do have world class teaching hospitals and medical centers, but Ohioans living in small towns and rural areas remain grossly underserved, with COVID 19 only exacerbating that trend.

Governor DeWine had a choice. He could have stricken this measure from the bill. He chose not to. Instead, he chose to advance the oppressive, regressive agenda of a political and religious right wing movement, and enshrined discrimination against the LGBTQ community into law. He moved Ohio a step closer to authoritarianism and further expands the institutionalized discrimination already faced by so many Americans.

 

 

References


"This is Not a Problem

Hospitals, doctors & Healthcare insurance providers can now deny services to the LGBTQ community

Ohio budget provision allows discrimination against LGBTQ community


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