Raw milk and other Statehouse madness

Republican politicians turn conspiracy theories into legislation

This week, two Republican politicians introduced a new bill that would legalize the sale of raw milk in Ohio.

The bill stems from a fringe belief that science-based health and safety regulations are actually big government preventing Americans from accessing the health benefits of unprocessed foods.

Raw milk has been proven to cause severe — even fatal — illnesses such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria in humans.

Listeria is especially harmful to pregnant women, warns Dr. Anita Somani, who is both an OB-GYN and an Ohio Democratic legislator. It can cause severe birth complications or even stillbirths.

Just last week, raw milk sickened 21 people in Florida, including 6 children.

If adults want to ignore science and hurt themselves, I suppose that’s their choice. But their kids didn’t choose this madness, and they deserve to live.

The pro-Listeria raw milk bill was introduced by Republican State Reps Kellie Deeter (Norwalk) and Levi Dean (Xenia).

It’s just the latest in a long line of Ohio policies based on far-right conspiracy theories.

For example, Levi Dean is also the sponsor of a bill to ban fluoride from everyone’s drinking water. We call that one Ohio’s Mass Cavity Bill.

It will likely receive hearings in the coming months, and will require significant public pushback.

Last term, Levi Dean’s dad (Bill Dean) joined fellow Republicans in trying to pass a bill that would let more Ohioans use drugs like Ivermectin (horse dewormer) to treat COVID.

The “let humans eat horse dewormer” bill reached the very last step in Ohio’s legislative process before failing last December. And they’re trying to pass it again this year.

The term before that, several Ohio Republicans tried to passed a bill that would expand access to not only horse dewormer, but several other fake COVID cures as well.

Ohio Republicans have also attempted to severely weaken state law around vaccines in recent years.

They have sometimes succeeded:

Sadly, these far-right conspiracies also expand far beyond the health and science arenas.

For example, Statehouse Republicans are currently holding hearings on a bill that would “protect” Ohio homeowners from an invasion of “squatters.”

This bill is based on a MAGA belief that illegal immigrants are stealing Americans’ homes by abusing loopholes in squatting law to simply take over their living spaces.

The migrant squatting “crisis” is not backed up by data. But the bills addressing this “crisis” do have very real and harmful impacts on Ohio families.

And don’t even get me started on all the ways Republican conspiracy theories have impacted Ohio’s election laws.

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY: You should run for office.

All state House seats are on the ballot next year in Ohio, and half of the state Senate seats as well.

I guarantee you are far more qualified than at least half of the Republicans currently in office.

These resources will help you get started:

Seriously. Think about it. Ohio desperately needs you.