COLUMBUS, Ohio – When it comes to guaranteeing religious freedom without discriminating, Gov. John Kasich says Ohio law strikes a good balance and he sees no need for changes.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
The prospective 2016 Republican presidential contender was addressing national debate over religious objections laws in other states that have angered gay rights advocates.
Indiana and Arkansas have scrambled to clarify laws establishing broad religious protections that critics decried as intended to allow businesses and individuals to refuse service to gays. A similar bill was withdrawn in Ohio after lawmakers said they feared unintended consequences.
Kasich told reporters Thursday that, as a person of faith, he likes to “focus on the ‘do’s’ of religion,” such as praying for your enemies, more than the “don’ts.”
“The do’s are a very important part of faith for me. It doesn’t mean that don’ts don’t matter. But, I think we strike a balance pretty well in Ohio,” said Kasich, who opposes same-sex marriage.
As a U.S. House member, Kasich supported the 1993 federal religious-freedom law signed by President Bill Clinton, who later continued an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in state government hiring.
Kasich made his remarks during a press conference following a Statehouse event at which he announced $2 million in federal funding for Ohio’s children hospitals to support research into improved treatments for childhood asthma and pediatric pneumonia.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus will be among the beneficiaries of the money to expand collaborative research efforts.
The research will build on a $2 million round of funding that Kasich provided in 2011 to explore new treatments for infants born addicted to drugs and children with asthma.
Children’s hospitals used the money to share information on how to better treat sick children and promote best practices among physicians.
The funding announced yesterday will expand the asthma research to personalize treatment options for children most at risk and develop improved ways to diagnose pneumonia and better identify and treat high-risk patients.
Kasich said children’s hospitals had “done a beautiful job” of producing better outcomes for children with the initial research. “I think we can make additional breakthroughs,” he said.
Kasich also said he’s hopeful state lawmakers will approve money to support his expansion of Medicaid.
The GOP-dominated Legislature balked when Kasich sought approval to fund it in his last budget. So the state’s Controlling Board appropriated the money — not the full Legislature. But, Kasich says he does not anticipate going to the board this time around.
The governor’s $72.3 billion, two-year spending blueprint sets aside funds to cover the more than 500,000 low-income Ohioans who enrolled in the federal-state health program after Kasich extended Medicaid eligibility under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul.
Obama’s law calls for Washington to pay the full cost of the Medicaid extension through 2016 and 95 percent in 2017, so Ohio will have to kick in some money.