Abortions in Ohio Hit All-Time Low Last Year: 5,000 Pregnancies Terminated Legally In Hamilton County

Ohio Health Department County Stats

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- State health statistics show there were 28,721 abortions performed in Ohio in 2009, the lowest number since the 1980s when records began to be kept.  Ohio Right to Life said there has been a 40% decline in pregnancy terminations over the decades, and that the downward trend has been consistent and steady since the year 2000.  Still, the Ohio Department of Health's annual report contained some disturbing data.  There were 190 girls under age 15 who had abortions last year.  Were they sexually active or victims of child molesters?  The report does not offer any clues.  Overall, 18% of Ohio abortions involved women under the of 20; 83% were single and 41% were African American.  Said Ohio Right to Life Executive Director Mike Gonidakis, whose organization has posted the state health department's annual report:

"We are winning the fight against those who push abortion as the first and sometimes only choice for women in crisis.  We continue to witness a trend of Ohioans moving towards a firm respect for life.  One of the reasons for the continued decline in abortions has been the enactment of new laws which help young women make positive decisions for themselves and their babies.  Whenever you have even the slightest legislative gain that protects women and defends her baby, it will make a difference.” 

The Ohio Right to Life press release is available here. The full text of the Ohio Health Department's report on Ohio abortions in 2009 is accessible by clicking here. The documents contains data going back to 1997. Reaction to the numbers has been muted. Right Ohio blogger Matt Naugle said, "Any abortion is horrendous and an act of murder," but he was first to publish the numbers and noted the decline. On the Democratic left, Plunderbund called the declining number a positive development:

"The reduction in the number of abortions in Ohio IS good news and providing women with as much information as possible and as many options as possible SHOULD be everyone’s goal. That’s because we all have the same goal: reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in Ohio. And, based on the statistics, that has been happening, and happening rather quickly in the past few years."

Ohio Updates Fish Advisories: Perch Mercury and PCBs Easing

COLUMBUS (TBD) -- Some of the environmental damage that has made it unhealthy to consume Ohio sports fish is easing. State officials say it is now generally safe to eat yellow perch and sunfish at least twice a week. The updated fish consumption advisory is HERE , and the saddest tidings are that walleye from the Ohio River still are dangerous if consumed more than once a month.

That's a bad break because walleye are considered by many the tastiest fish of all. Along with perch, they are often main dishes in communities near Lake Erie. The Ohio Valley communities don't yet share in the feast.

This year, the Ohio EPA has again put the advisories on the Web but is offering them in four languages -- English, Spanish, Korean and Chinese. State officials also plan to put them in booklets that are passed out when fishing licenses are sold. All an effort to cut down on the toxic hazards of years of chemical dumping, widespread neglect of Mother Nature's gifts and despoiling of land and waterways. It will be a long time, if ever, before fish can be eaten without warnings.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Health Department says mercury is the big problem, especially for women and children. "Fish advisories due to mercury are most serious for women of child-bearing age, pregnant and nursing mothers and children under age 15. Fish contaminated with high levels of mercury have been shown to cause neurological damage and impaired development of young children."

Ohio Smoking Law Enforcement: $800,000 To Start

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- State health officials want $800,000 to begin enforcing Ohio's new indoor smoking ban when rules covering 280,000 locations go into effect in a few months. The money is supposed to come from the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, a state-controlled organization that holds about $300 million after successful litigation against cigarette manufacturers earlier this decade. The damage award money is invested and earned about $20 million last fiscal year.

The Ohio Health Department disclosed in a budget document it could not put teeth behind the smoking ban without Controlling Board approval to spend tobacco-settlement money. The request is on the agenda for the Feb. 26 Controlling Board meeting in Columbus:

"Health requests Controlling Board approval to establish appropriation authority in the amount of $800,000.00 in Fund 5ED, line item 440-651, Smoke Free Indoor Air to implement, manage, and enforce the Smoke Free Indoor Air Law."

Other state documents show some of the tobacco-settlement proceeds will be used to start a call center, build a Website and database to track complaints and violations, and hire temporary workers to process the information generated. People also will be needed to write complaint letters, and other contracts will be required to print and mail them to suspected violators.

Health officials also say they plan to distribute 280,000 "compliance packets" that containing the rules, a copy of the state law banning indoor smoking, and "no smoking" literature that probably will be warnings about the harm tobacco can cause to lungs, hearts and pregnant women . They also want to print signs and give funds to local health departments that have to police businesses, bars, nightclubs and anywhere else covered by the ban. Officials said they think they'll get more money from fines once enforcement begins, but noted in a document attached to the funding request "It is not possible to estimate the revenue from fines at this point."

In all, they expect to spend $125,000 on temps, $275,000 for preparing and mailing the compliance packets, and $400,000 to subsidize the local health departments. They also said they have no other source of money to get the ban up and running.

"If not funded, enforcement of the law could not take place," the Ohio Department of Health said in its request for the money. Information about the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation is HERE.

Pandemic Preps: Ohio Schools Sent Pre-Written News Releases

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- State health officials this month are distributing instructions to Ohio school administrators about what they should do and say if bird flu is discovered in the United States. They are also receiving pre-written news releases in the kits about what to tell the public. It is news everyone should hope we never hear.

For example, one of the "sample statements for school officials" says schools might be shuttered for up to six weeks. The news release for the way those bad tidings will be delivered goes as follows: "State/County/School officials have ordered the closure of schools as a result of the pandemic flu in State/County. Schools may be closed for an extended period of time (for example, up to six weeks.) We know this is a difficult time for our community and our hearts go out to those who are sick. We are working with health officials and will keep parents updated. Because pandemic flu is easily spread from person-to-person, children and adults should stay away from other people and groups as much as possible. Avoid large gatherings of people in locations such as homes, shopping malls, movie theaters or community centers."

That is what is supposed to be said when the pandemic is raging. This is the canned announcement that we can expect to hear when the first case of H5N1 virus turns up: "As expected, birds sick with the H5N1 bird/avian flu virus are now in the United States. It is important to know that, at this time, there are no human cases of bird/avian flu in the United States."

A complete version of the kit that is going out to school districts this month is available HERE, on the Ohio Health Department Web site. Reading through the pages online makes it clear officials are bracing for the worst. Closing schools for up to six weeks simply is unheard off.

The federal Centers for Disease Control has a comprehensive Web site with up-to-date information about avian flu, with maps showing different parts of the world where the virus has been found. There are descriptions of efforts to monitor the flu's spread, and scientific data about the development of vaccines. However, it seems clear that there will not be enough to inoculate everybody, and thousands of lives could be in the balance. That's the implied messages in the canned news releases. This looks serious.

Ohio Pizzaman's Italian Oven: Draws 'Smoking' Complaint

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Ohio health officials sent one of 10,000 letters notifying businesses about smoking violations to Betta's Italian Oven, a restaurant in suburban Cincinnati that cooks pizzas on a wood-fired oven. Somebody objected to the oven, where an open fire produces smoke.

The restaurant's owner, Will DeLuca, banned cigarettes in his shop since it opened three years ago. DeLuca says he has to send a reply to the state health department in Columbus explaining he is complying with the new law that prohibits indoor smoking.

He says his wood smoked pizzas are prepared the traditional Italian way, and that such ovens are commonplace in Europe. State officials say they will drop the matter and suburban Norwood's health commissioner said the complaint was a big mistake. It probably came from a customers who saw the oven smoking.

Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Steve Kemme, who broke the story in print, has an excellent account of the flap HERE. Apparently, some people believe that Ohio's anti-smoking measure bans wood stoves. Health Department spokesman John Carey told Kemme that that objectors "usually cite a part of the law that defines smoking as 'inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or other lighted smoking device for burning tobacco or any other plant."

[Ed Note: By the way, Betta's Italian Oven has tasty lunches. It's near the Xavier University campus and not far from The Daily Bellwether.]