Legislation that generally prohibits the promotion of “divisive concepts” by public schools, public universities, state agencies and local governments would harm efforts to reduce racial disparities in health outcomes, minority health advocates said during a Statehouse press conference on Monday.

Ohio Poverty Law Center Policy Advocate Tim Johnson, PrimaryOne Health CEO Charleta Tavares, Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio Executive Director Tracy Najera and First Congregational Church Senior Minister Rev. Tim Ahrens all urged House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) to publicly announce that HB327 (Grendell-Fowler Arthur) will not receive any more hearings in the House State and Local Government Committee.

“The Legislature must acknowledge that the bill cannot be fixed. It cannot be amended to make it better. HB327 must not move forward, period,” Johnson said.

The controversial bill has also been condemned by education groups and free speech advocates, among others. (See The Hannah Report, 9/22/21, 3/9/22.)

“Much attention around HB327 has been focused on its education provisions, and understandably so,” Johnson said. “Less attention, however, has been paid to HB327 in how it will impact our ongoing efforts to address health disparities.”

Johnson noted that April is Minority Health Month.

“It is a time where we examine how to best focus and uplift the wellbeing of minority communities in our state. We should be reflecting on the progress that we have made, while also doubling down on our commitment to improve health outcomes for marginalized groups. We cannot honor that commitment without acknowledging the role that racism has played in economic and health disparities. We cannot close that gap without acknowledging it,” Johnson said.

“Racism and segregation in Ohio have exacerbated health divides, resulting in Black Ohioans' having lower life expectancies than White Ohioans, and Black Ohioans being far more likely than other races to die prematurely,” he continued. “Ohio’s Black babies have lower birth weights, and nearly three times the infant mortality rates of their White counterparts. Black Ohioans are also more likely to be overweight, obese, have adult-onset diabetes and experience long-term complications from diabetes.”

Johnson said state agencies, local governments and nonprofit organizations across the state have been “working tirelessly to end health disparities,” but HB327 threatens to “undo” all of their work.

“These departments would see their ability to do things like conduct implicit bias training be banned outright, while initiatives to implement cultural competency and focus on health equity would be severely hampered,” Johnson said.

The bill would also affect the 27 local governments that have officially declared that racism is a public health crisis, he said.

“HB327 would limit how effectively each of these entities could use these declarations,” Johnson said. “Local governments are on the front lines for improving the health of our communities. HB327 uses the heavy hand of the state to stop local governments from making any progress.”

Tavares -- a former state legislator and a member of Gov. Mike DeWine’s COVID-19 Minority Health Strike Force -- said the bill is not only “morally corrupt,” but would also harm the state financially.

“HB327 goes a long way to shut down any kind of equity in the state of Ohio. … If we don’t achieve equity amongst the residents in the state of Ohio, we’re assuring ourselves that we’re going to be spending more money, as well as losing more lives,” Tavares said, pointing to the high costs of premature births and emergency hospitalizations for individuals with cardiovascular diseases.

“If you don’t do it because it’s the right thing to do, do it because it’s going to save the state of Ohio money,” Tavares said.

Tavares also noted that she was a state legislative staff member in the 1980s when the General Assembly created the Ohio Commission on Minority Health -- the first such agency in the U.S.

“Later, the U.S. government also created an Office of Minority Health. We were the first one. We should be proud of that,” Tavares said.

Najera said the bill would also harm the ability of nonprofits to engage in efforts to reduce racial health disparities, as many receive state and local grant funding.

“Getting to the root causes of health disparities is part of the solution, and becoming aware and educated on these factors to change our practices, to change our approaches, are part of the process of continuous improvement at the systems level, at the community level,” Najera said. “The legislation would essentially put a halt to this continuous improvement. … Groups currently receiving grants would essentially lose their funding. They would lose their funding by attempting to address health disparities, and state and local governments would be barred from giving out funding to address health disparities going forward.”

Ahrens pointed to Jesus’ parable of the final judgment in Matthew 25:31-46.

“As I was reading this bill, I couldn’t help but think of this parable. HB327 is morally flawed. It is unrighteous law writ large. As a citizen and religious leader in Ohio for the past 37 years, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I couldn’t believe this was a law that my legislators, my representatives, my fellow Ohioans and in many cases my fellow Christians would even offer or consider, let alone pass as law,” Ahrens said.

“If there are significant health disparities between populations, HB327 asks us to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear, essentially saying there is ‘nothing to see, nothing to hear.’ This is exactly what the unrighteous do in the parable of the final judgment,” Ahrens said. “God would never approve of a law like this. I want to tell you, if people say they’re on God’s side and support this law, they are off their rockers, and are certainly not in their Bible.”

A spokesperson for Cupp did not return a message seeking comment for this story.