OHDems

COLUMBUS – Republicans’ efforts to further restrict abortion access and monitor women’s health is garnering national attention, being called “a page out of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’” While Ohio voters passed Issue 1 overwhelmingly, emphasizing their support for access to women’s health care, Ohio Republicans’ push to create a “statewide pregnancy registry” – including for highly personal medical complications like miscarriages – is only part of their comprehensive effort to restrict access to women’s health care. Recently, Ohio Republicans on the House Health Committee approved House Bill 347, which would effectively add a 24-hour waiting period for women to be able to access abortion care. It also would mean that physicians could be punished for providing lifesaving care.

In case you missed it, check out MS Now’s coverage of Ohio Republicans’ work to restrict access to reproductive care and track women’s pregnancies:

MS Now: A page out of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Ohio Republicans propose bill to track all pregnancies

Author Margaret Atwood insisted her novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” was rooted in real history. Now, a new Ohio bill proposed by Republicans to track all pregnancies in the state is drawing disturbing parallels to her work of fiction. Georgetown law professor Michele Goodwin warns if the legislation passes, there is a “very real potential and probability of criminal punishments and civil fines and various other horrors.”

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COLUMBUS – While more than half a million Ohioans relied on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to afford their health care last year, Donald Trump and Ohio Republicans have repeatedly refused to extend the lifesaving ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and now thousands of families across the country have dropped their health insurance after seeing their premiums skyrocket by an average of 114%. On the 16th anniversary of the ACA, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde issued the following statement slamming Donald Trump and Ohio Republicans for creating a health care crisis in the Buckeye State. 

“Despite the more than half a million Ohioans who rely on the Affordable Care Act to access their critical health care, Ohio Republicans have made clear that they just don’t care. While Donald Trump and Ohio Republicans made the choice to rip health care from Ohio families to pay for tax breaks for corporate special interests and billionaires, Ohio Democrats are committed to fighting for Ohioans’ health care and lowering the high costs that keep Ohioans in every corner of our state up at night. Make no mistake, because of Ohio Republicans’ actions that rip health care away from hundreds of thousands of Ohioans, more people will get sick, rural hospitals could close, and more Ohioans could even die – and Ohioans will hold Republicans accountable for it at the ballot box in November.”

While Republicans refuse to extend these credits, Democrats are fighting to extend them and ensure Ohioans are not priced out of their health care — which the majority of Americans support. According to new polling, two-thirds of Americans say Congress did the wrong thing by not extending enhanced ACA subsidies, including one-third of Trump’s coalition. Additionally, nearly 1 in 3 adults say they are “very worried” about affording their health care bills. Trump and Republicans also slashed $1 trillion from Medicaid, putting 11 rural Ohio hospitals at risk of closure and ripping health care away from hundreds of thousands of Ohioans.

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Columbus, Ohio- Following a vote by the Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde released the following statement endorsing all five of Ohio’s Democratic members of Congress for reelection:

“With Republicans in Washington continuing to raise the cost of our healthcare, energy bills, and passing the largest tax giveaway for billionaires in our nation’s history, it’s critical that we have representatives like Congresswomen Marcy Kaptur, Emilia Sykes, Shontel Brown, Joyce Beatty and Congressman Landsman fighting for their districts.

The Ohio Democratic Party is proud to endorse all five of our Democratic incumbent members of Congress and stand with their reelection campaigns so they can continue pushing back against Washington corruption and working to lower costs for Ohio families.”

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Columbus, Ohio- Today, the Ohio Democratic Party in conjunction with the Ohio Democratic Rural Caucus released the findings from its Building Country Roads, Rural Ohio Listening Tour.

The tour consisted of nine Saturday morning listening sessions across nine rural Ohio counties and took place over the course of October 2025 through December 2025.

Some of the concerns the report highlights from rural voters are:

• Political neglect and misconceptions about rural Ohio
• Public schools
• Media decline and misinformation
• Economic uncertainty

“A critical part of Ohio Democrats’ path to victory up and down the ballot is in rural Ohio. Our listening tour and the report on its findings is just the beginning of our party’s commitment to strengthening our relationships with voters in rural Ohio. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Rural Caucus Chair Chris Gibbs and partnering with our great rural county leaders across the state,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. 

“For two months I travelled rural Ohio to listen to voters’ concerns for their communities, their state and the country. This report is a culmination of those conversations and my hope is it’s a useful guide for Democratic candidates and operatives as we look to win in 2026. I’m committed to continuing to lead our rural caucus work with Chair Clyde, who I know shares my commitment to getting this right and believes deeply that we can never give up on rural Ohio and need to show up and engage the electorate like never before.” said Ohio Democratic Party Rural Caucus Chair Chris Gibbs. 

In the coming weeks the Ohio Democratic Party will present the findings of the report to candidates, county chairs, the ODP Executive Committee and the Democratic National Committee. 

The full report can be read HERE.

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Columbus, Ohio – In case you missed it, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde appeared on Sunday Briefing with Colleen Marshall to discuss the momentum Ohio Democrats have going into 2026. 

Check out key highlights below and watch the full interview here: 

On Vivek Ramaswamy: There’s nothing more out of touch for Ohioans who are struggling with rising costs of living than a billionaire candidate who flies around the state and in a private jet and has called Ohio workers lazy and mediocre.

On Ohio Dems Organizing:  I have been focused on what we need to do to get our urban turnout back to the numbers that it used to be and we need to to emphasize year round organizing. 

We can’t show up on the last 30 to 60 days, of an election, and expect that we’ll be able to turn out voters, but we have to be engaging in communities, talking about what Democratic leadership looks like, and having those conversations all year round, not just in the final days leading up to an election. 

On Ohio Dems Candidates: I am excited about who we have at the top of our ticket, both in Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown, who’s fantastic […] and excites our party base and working families across the state. 

So we see enthusiasm, we saw it across the country, in the elections in November. We saw it in local elections across the state here in Ohio, and we’re looking forward to seeing that moment in the build as we head into next year. 

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