Our members have been busy lately protesting and rallying and the local media has been taking notice. Here are a few of the recent headlines:

"Healthcare Vote Protested." The Die-In at Renacci's office on Saturday, May 7th made the front page of the Wadsworth Gazette. See page 32 for the complete story. http://html5.pagesuite.com/preview/postnewspapers/default.aspx?pubname=Wadsworth%20Post&pubid=20713639-e91a-4e61-9fa5-d0bd095f727f

"Rep. Renacci's Health Care Vote Protested." The Medina Gazette covered the Die-In on Wednesday, May 10th. While the article comes acrossed biased in favor of Renacci, our own Mary Luebke does a nice job of voicing our concerns.  http://www.medina-gazette.com/Medina-County/2017/05/10/Rep-Renacci-39-s-health-care-vote-protested.html

"Area Residents Rallied Against Healthcare Bill." The Canton Repository covered the rally and speeches at the City Council meeting urging members to approve a resolution calling on the Senate to preserve the Affordable Care Act. http://www.cantonrep.com/news/20170508/area-activists-rallied-against-gop-health-care-bill

"Grave concerns: Trumpcare opponents stage Norwalk "die-in" with simulated cemetery". The Norwalk Reflector covered the Die-In outside Jim Jordan's office. http://www.norwalkreflector.com/Health-Care/2017/05/10/Grave-Concerns-Trumpcare-opponents-stage-die-in

"Protesters stage "Die-In" in front of Rep. Jordan's Norwalk office." The Sandusky Register also covered the protest at Jim Jordan's Office. http://www.sanduskyregister.com/story/201705090031
Video of protest at Representative Latta's office in Bowling Green. The Sentinel Tribune shared the video on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/286310076720/videos/10154326993846721/
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"Rally focuses on Pipeline, Environment." The Medina Gazette covered the climate march in the Medina Square on April 29th. http://www.medina-gazette.com/Medina-County/2017/04/30/Rally-focuses-on-pipeline-environment.html

Great job! Keep up the good work!
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Have you seen other news covering our events? Share the link in the comments!

Missed out on the Renacci "Wake for Victims of Trumpcare" on Sunday? Well, you're in luck, because there are many other ways to participate in the resistance to this issue. Here are a few to get you started.

WE CARE! Rally for Healthcare
When: Monday, May 8th at 5:30
Where: Parking Lot at the Carnegie Building - 236 Third Street S.W Canton
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/985124611623539/​

Meet for a rally and "die-in" across the street from the Canton City Council Chambers. Afterwards, attendees will will attend the council meeting following the rally. We will encourage Canton City Council to pass a resolution supporting the Affordable Care Act which will be sent to Washington. A resolution is being drafted, and we expect many on council to be favorable to passing it.  You do not need to be a Canton resident to attend.

Die in at Renacci's wadsworth office
When: Wednesday, May 10th, 12:00 - 2:00
Where: Renacci's Wadsworth Office, 1 Park Center Drive, Suite 302 , Wadsworth , OH 44281
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/271416039995776/ or https://actionnetwork.org/events/die-in-at-renaccis-wadsworth-office

​A repeat of Sunday's event, this time on a weekday when Renacci's staff will be in the office. Wear black and bring a sign, preferably one shaped like a gravestone

Distribute Flyers in Districts Where Reps Voted Yes
When: Anytime
Where: Any district whose representative voted Yes
RSVP: N/A

Organized by Action Together Ohio, the activity asks you to print and distribute flyers in any zone where the representative voted in favor of the AHCA. Here are the details copied from their Facebook group:

#OfficialPost #ActionTeam

DISTRIBUTE FLYERS ABOUT YOUR REP WHO VOTED "YES" TOTRUMPCARE!

The following Ohio House Republicans voted in favor of Trumpcare:

OH-1 Steve Chabot
OH-2 Brad Wenstrup
OH-4 Jim Jordan
OH-5 Bob Latta
OH-6 Bill Johnson
OH-7 Bob Gibbs
OH-8 Warren Davidson
OH-12 Pat Tiberi
OH-15 Steve Stivers
OH-16 James B. Renacci

We're kicking off a state-wide flyer distribution initiative, and we need your help!

To get started, visit this link: https://drive.google.com/…/fol…/0ByGs4vz2iMgdN1ljR3ZhVndFUDg

This will give you access to flyers for each of the 10 representatives who voted yes. Print out the one relevant to your district, make copies, and distribute!

___________________________________

A few guidelines:

1. You have the right to stand in a public place - public parking lots, public sidewalks, public parks, municipal little league fields, community/rec centers, etc. - and hand out flyers without interference. If someone is rude to you and does not want to take a flyer, just ignore them.

2. You can also seek permission from the owner of a commercial property, such as a store or restaurant, to distribute flyers to patrons.

3. You can hang flyers on bulletin boards of local establishments with the owner’s permission.

4. If you like, distribute flyers with a buddy (it’s always fun to flyer with a friend!), or with your family (teaching democracy to the youngins!)

5. If you’re feeling especially bold, mail a flyer to the representative himself - yes, himself, because in Ohio, all of the House Republicans who voted for Trumpcare are men - or walk into his office and politely ask a staffer if they’d like a flyer.

6. Have fun!

___________________________________

Last but not least, feel free to pass along the Google Drive folder to people and groups you trust, and get them to participate in this flyer campaign!


Do you know of another event or activity? Share it in the comments!

It was a bright, but windy, afternoon yesterday in front of Jim Renacci's office in Wadsworth. Aproximately 30 people, all dressed in black, and carrying signs shaped like gravestones turned up for the "Wake for Victims of Trumpcare". Attendees represented all age groups, even children, and came from as far away as Stark county.

Several attendees discussed their dissastifaction with the ACHA bill that recently pass in the house by just four votes. One of the most popular topics of conversation was the change in coverage for pre-existing conditions and the fact that many women's health concerns (everything from ovarian cancer to heavy menstrual periods) are considered pre-existing while many men's health concerns, like testicular cancer, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction, are not.

Many sttendees identified themselves as members of local resistance efforts, including Medina County Together, Medina Patriotic Resistance. Action Together Stark, and Women's March Ohio - NE Ohio.

Support for the protestors was strong, in the form of honking horns and shouts of thanks from the drivers and passengers at the nearby intersection. A few detractors loudly expressed their disagreement, but the attendees were not deterred. Most smiled and waved in response.

More local information about the healthcare bill passage can be found in the Medina Gazette: http://www.medina-gazette.com/Medina-County/2017/05/06/Medina-County-congressional-representatives-talk-health-care-vote.html

By: John Leonard

The Constitution says I have the right to keep and bear arms. I would not be a good shot without my contact lenses, so I choose to defend my home with a nuclear arm.  The Constitution does not say fire-arms it says arms. It may take some time for me to acquire the required materials for a nuclear arm. In the interim, a chemical or biological arm should suffice.  I know the open carry people and all the people who favor strict literal interpretations of the Constitution support me, because I have the right to bear arms. If guns were outlawed tomorrow criminals would still find a way to acquire guns.

Many of the people who believe that also believe abortion can and should be outlawed tomorrow.  Those who seek to impose their edicts on women's reproductive rights in our society are not influenced by the opinion of medical professionals, scientists, data from the real world, or the health of anyone involved. You may say they are not that extreme, but consider the Hobby Lobby case. The people who brought that to the Supreme Court (this is all the same crew) said that certain forms of birth control were abortifacients.  It did not matter what medical science said.

The march toward ending legal abortion in this country is being staged by people for whom the ends justify the means, without regard to facts about abortion or the consideration of the civil liberties of women. Consider the deceptively edited Planned Parenthood videos. The people that produced those videos have been indicted on felonies for their work. Two members of Congress (Franks & Murphy) knew about the Planned Parenthood videos for a month before they became public. Isn't it fair to ask if GOP legislators are coordinating attacks on Planned Parenthood with a group that allegedly violated numerous federal and state laws? Despite investigations in numerous states and by the House of Representatives, no investigation has ever uncovered any illegal activities by Planned Parenthood.

The Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws introduced in states across the nation are based on BS. According to the results of a study from the National Partnership for Women & Families, seventy percent of all state abortion restrictions introduced in the 2015-2016 legislative session are based on false information. The 251 faulty bills in 37 states were found to be either based on lies about abortion doctors, the procedures they perform, or on false assumptions about why women choose to get an abortion; or all of the above.  According to a study from the National Institute of Health, a woman has a higher chance of dying after a complication from a colonoscopy than from a legal abortion. Yet health organizations providing colonoscopies are not as highly regulated as those providing abortions.
 
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study on the effects of defunding Planned Parenthood. In these states, data on unintended pregnancies rose twenty-seven percent, while Google searches for self-induced abortions track perfectly with anti-choice states, providing evidence that abortion is a medical procedure that women seek out regardless of geography, and that their rights are being taken away based on faulty evidence and falsification.
 
Further, defunding Planned Parenthood is not just about abortion rights. It is about the rights of women to access basic reproductive medical care in a climate where medical care is increasingly inaccessible for rural and poorer Americans. Republicans say that if Planned Parenthood were defunded, patients could / would go somewhere else for basic reproductive medical care which does not include an abortion.  The Guttmacher Institute received a request from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) regarding the publicly supported contraceptive care provided by Planned Parenthood health centers across the country. To respond, Guttmacher staff conducted special tabulations of our Contraceptive Needs and Services 2010 report (the most recent year for which this data is available).
 
"Our analysis shows unequivocally that Planned Parenthood plays a major role in delivering publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies to women who are in need of such care nationwide. In sixty-eight percent of counties with a Planned Parenthood site (332 counties out of 491), these sites serve at least half the women obtaining publicly supported contraceptive services from a safety-net health center. And in twenty-one percent of counties with a Planned Parenthood site (103 counties total), Planned Parenthood serves all of the women obtaining publicly supported contraceptive services from a safety-net health center."
 
Here in Ohio, the legislature voted to defund Planned Parenthood.  Kasich signed the bill. Yet if you call up Larry Obhof's office and ask for the list of health care providers to take the place of Planned Parenthood, no such list exists. The Republican legislators did no due diligence. In Ohio, rape crisis counselors can't mention abortion to women, when this is a time a woman is traumatized and may be grappling with the most difficult pregnancy decisions of her life.  
 
Do you want Obhof, Rennaci, Portman, Kasich etc. to tell the women in our society what, if any, birth control they will be permitted to use? Keep voting for them. If not, it's time to make a different choice at the ballot box, so that women truly have the right to choose.
 
What exactly is the difference between the society that Kasich and the rest would give us and the one the Muslim zealots would give us? Both seek to impose the religious and moral views of a minority on our society, despite the rights and liberties guaranteed in our Constitution, and will do anything to achieve that end. It's time to make the connection and hold these legislators accountable.

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