Free Press Heroes

This month the Free Press honors those who put their bodies on the line in the fight against poverty. Eight activists were arrested while blocking a downtown street in Columbus during the Poor People’s Campaign demonstration on June 4: Marlene Goldheimer, Tim Kettler, Kimberly Mann, Roger Osgood, Daniel Clark, Connie Hammond, William Meyer and Alan Dicken. Connie Hammond of the Columbus Peace Action Network and the Single-Payer Action Network of Ohio, among other groups, stated: “The Single Payer Action Network joined with the action of the Poor People’s Campaign because we believe that as stated in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate to the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services....’ The fact that health care in this country is not universal, accessible and available to all is a moral issue. The right to health is universally recognized as fundamental to human dignity, freedom and well-being. Our health care non-system is a failed experiment in corporate controlled medicine that puts profits over people.”

Enemy of the People

There are so many obvious enemies this month, we don’t know where to begin: five of the Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, Trump, ICE, and most Republican lawmakers. But the Free Press has chosen the decidedly anti-woman, anti-choice Republican politician Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine for his efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and his working with fake womens’ health centers. Kellie Copeland of NARAL put it best: “Mike DeWine would rather Ohioans not have access to the cancer screenings and HIV testing that keeps them healthy than allow Planned Parenthood to help them. He is fighting against funding for rape prevention programs. Mike DeWine is putting funds at risk that combat Ohio’s infant mortality crisis. He’s willing to do all of this just to further his anti-abortion crusade and to appeal to conservative Republican voters. Think about that.”