In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss the potential consequences of the Supreme Court case on Mississippi's abortion law. Reporter Audra Heinrichs joins the show.
Roe V. Wade In The Balance
The fates of abortion laws in Ohio and around the country are in the hands of the nine justices of the US Supreme Court.
The Justices heard arguments this week in a case that challenges Mississippi’s abortion law that bans the procedure after 15 weeks. It’s always difficult to predict a Supreme Court decision based on the oral arguments but the consensus seems to be that the court might overturn Roe v. Wade altogether.
Of course, the case will affect people outside of Mississippi and it will affect us here in Ohio as the supermajority of our legislature is very opposed to abortion rights. And we have a law that would ban abortion at the detection of fetal cardiac activity – a so-called heartbeat law – that would presumably take effect if the court overturns Roe.
COVID On The Rise
Wednesday brought one of Ohio's largest single-day coronavirus case totals in nearly a year. State health officials reported more than 8,900 cases. Meanwhile, we don’t know if the Omicron variant is in Ohio yet.
Governor DeWine says he’s monitoring the situation and he continues to urge people to get vaccinated, get the booster, and wear masks in indoor public settings.
According to the New York Times analysis of health data, Ohio ranks 10th in the country in per-capita spread over the past two weeks. Ohio ranks 34th in terms of vaccination.
Snollygoster Of The Week
The Ohio Conservative Restoration Project, a so-called dark-money group formed in Delaware, is attacking Jim Renacci, the Republican who is challenging Mike DeWine.
The group’s website says Renacci failed as mayor of Wadsworth, failed as a congressman, and is an out-of-touch politician who lives in a pricey development. It also claims Renacci did not support President Trump in the 2016 campaign. Meanwhile, the group has high praise for DeWine.
Send questions and comments to snollygoster@wosu.org.