Press Release: Ohio Director of Health Departing This Month

Columbus, Ohio — Following the announcement that Richard Hodges is leaving his position of Director of the Ohio Department of Health, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio is calling on Governor Kasich and the Ohio Senate to appoint a qualified candidate with real health care experience to fill the position.
 
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director: “Throughout Director Hodges’ tenure, his actions on behalf of Governor Kasich to misuse his authority at the health department to shut down providers of safe and legal abortion have been disgraceful and dangerous.”
 
She continued, “Health care decisions must be made by health care professionals. Hodges’ politicization of the health department must not be repeated. Period.”
 
Mr. Hodges was appointed to the state Department of Health in 2014, bringing to the position his nearly three full years of experience as Executive Director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission. He is leaving the Department of Health on March 31, 2017. Hodges previously served six years in the Ohio House of Representatives. According to the Toledo Blade, Hodges “was a strong member of the conservative wing of the Republican caucus. It’s a bloc, derisively referred to as the ‘caveman caucus,’ that has fought abortion rights, helped take apart the welfare state, crusaded for tax cuts, and raised red flags at the expansion of state government.”
 
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