Mary Strevel: What a difference a mile can make
What a difference a mile can make. I live in Michigan on the Ohio border. If I walk that mile I am faced with a very different political world. How did this happen? How can two states be so close geographically but on opposite poles politically? Both industrial states share much in common. Why are our laws so different?
In Michigan in 2016, the voters, a citizen’s initiative, took redistricting out of the hands of legislators. What once was one of the country’s most gerrymandered states is now one of the fairest. Now districts reflect the overall makeup of the state. The 2022 election turned Michigan back to a blue state. Also in 2022, voters overwhelming backed Proposal 2 which protects the right to the absentee ballot and headed off attempts by a future Legislature of either party to suppress this right.
Ohio, which was once a swing state, is now solidly Republican. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Ohio filed a lawsuit on Sept. 23, 2021, in the Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio’s newly drawn maps for state House and Senate districts that give extreme and unfair advantage to the Republican Party. This is the first litigation in the country challenging a passed statewide map. The Ohio Redistricting Commission — which is dominated by Republicans — approved the maps in a 5-2 vote, disrespecting the letter and spirit of the constitutional reforms passed overwhelmingly by Ohio voters in 2015. The maps lock in Republican veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers in the Ohio Assembly.
The Assembly disregarded the Ohio Supreme Court. They ordered maps to be redrawn but by political tricks, this was avoided in the 2022 election. They have been ordered again to be redrawn for the 2024 election. Michigan did not have politicians or legislators draw maps. Michigan chose a commission composed of Democrats, Republicans, and independents. These maps have consequences.
Rigging the maps does not give every voter a voice. How would Ohio have voted on abortion without gerrymandered partisan positions? Now that Ohio is solidly red, a woman cannot get an abortion after 5-6 weeks, even in cases of rape and incest. The only exception is a medical emergency of the pregnant woman. In Michigan, due to the overwhelming support of Proposal 3 in 2022, voters passed by a wide margin a woman’s right to choose as well as other reproductive services. The Michigan Legislature is looking to officially repeal the 1931 abortion law which makes abortion illegal except in cases to save the life of the mother. In Ohio. a 10-year-old girl had to go to Indiana after being raped by a 27-year-old man since even a medication abortion is banned in Ohio. Think about that. Walk 1 mile from my house and a doctor can go to jail for giving a pill to a 10-year-old girl – with the parents’ permission – who was raped. In Lebanon ,Ohio, a so-called “sanctuary city,” the city council passed a law making a criminal of anyone seeking an abortion or for anyone providing assistance.
In Michigan, we have senators that work to protect the rights of women. Gary Peters has supported the Violence Against Women Act, and Debbie Stabenow has worked to protect the rights of woman to have an abortion. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio is anti-abortion. He has no problem with echoing Donald Trump’s assertion that the 2020 election was stolen because of widespread voter fraud. He opposes the Respect for Marriage Act stating, “I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.”
My suggestion to Ohioans: Make your legislators accountable for ignoring your wishes on gerrymandering. After all, I like traveling that mile especially to the Toledo Metroparks, which are, in my opinion, the crowning glory of the city.
Mary Strevel is a retired teacher who belongs to Stronger together Huddle, a group engaged in supporting and promoting the common good. She resides in Temperance and can be reached at mcneil102@icloud.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Mary Strevel: What a difference a mile can make
