With 2025 just started, we reflect on a year of pro-life successes in our state’s government with the passage of:
HB 5, sponsored by Representatives Ray and Baker, works to streamline the adoption process for families in Ohio. Some of the major improvements include, permitting adult adoption for individuals with developmental disabilities, updating consent law definitions, including the time a child lived with the adoption petitioners before the petition was filed as part of the six-month waiting period before an adoption is finalized, and increasing the maximum amount that can be granted to a birth mother for living expenses. These important changes make adoption more accessible in Ohio.
HB 7, sponsored by Representatives White and Humphrey, aims to improve the programs and services available to vulnerable families and children. The bill increases reporting requirements for several agencies, including Department of Children and Youth, Department of Health, and Department of Jobs and Family Services, to ensure that families are connected to the services available to them and the state tracks the outcomes. By improving access to programs like Help Me Grow, WIC and parenting resource programs, the state is supporting families more effectively to set them up for success.
HB 8, sponsored by Representatives Carruthers and Swearingen, empowers parents to be more involved in their children’s education and care. This bill places age-appropriate restrictions on sexual topics and requires schools to notify parents regarding the content when they are old enough to begin reviewing sexually related content. It also prohibits district personnel from encouraging students to keep information from their parents, this serves to keep parents engaged in their child’s life at school as well as at home. Notably, this bill also includes a requirement for schools to maintain policies on parental consent for students attending religious instruction programs during the school day. These changes to school policy will keep parents more informed of what their child is going through and learning at school and enable them to support their children to grow and thrive.
HB 33, was the operating budget passed in the 135th General Assembly. In this budget, the Ohio Parenting and Pregnancy Program, which provides grant funding available to Pregnancy Resource Centers in Ohio, received $14 million over the course of the 2 fiscal years. The Adoption Grant Program, which offers funds to assist with the costs for families who have adopted, received $30 million over the 2 fiscal years, and received additional funding later in the year to meet the need of adoptive families. Major baby products such as car seats, cribs, and strollers were exempted from sales tax. This is in addition to investments put into family stability programs, infant vitality efforts, and child care improvements all working to make Ohio more pro-family.
HB 34, sponsored by Representatives Klopfenstein and King, expands the circumstances for excusing a juror from duty. Under the bill, a mother breast-feeding a child a year old or younger is able to be excused from duty. To be excused, the mother just has to turn in a signed affidavit to the judge stating that she is breast-feeding her baby. This bill supports mothers and recognizes the importance of their care of their children as a valid reason to be unable to serve jury duty.
HB 68, sponsored by Representative Click, places protections for minors experiencing gender dysphoria by prohibiting physicians from offering medical transitions. This will keep vulnerable minors from receiving irreversible medications or surgery before they are old enough to make informed decisions for themselves. Additionally, the bill requires that mental health professionals offering care for gender-related conditions screen for other comorbidities that may need care. This care must be done with the consent of the minor’s parent or legal guardian. Ultimately, HB 68 seeks to provide minors with the necessary mental health support and care before opting for medical transition options and keeps their parents engaged in making decisions for their child’s well-being.
Looking forward to 2025, we see an opportunity to save more precious lives, advance our families, mothers, and babies in Ohio, and continue to support and defend our pregnancy centers. Each year brings new lives to protect and advocate for, and we will never stop being a voice for the voiceless here in Ohio. Thank you Ohio for all the hard work you do and for supporting us. We can’t wait to continue to fight alongside you for the sake of the unborn in 2025.
We are pro-life Ohio!