Activists picket University Hospitals in Cleveland for firing 2 doctors organizing a union who also fought for the Issue 1 referendum that made abortion legal in Ohio...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com
By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher
CLEVELAND, Ohio- Activists and union advocates picketed University Hospitals at its main campus in downtown, Cleveland, Ohio Wednesday evening and demanded the reinstatement of ousted doctors Lauren Beene and Valerie Fouts Fowler.
Among the groups organizing the protest were the Cuyahoga Democratic Women's Caucus, Mobilize the Vote, and SEIU.
Notably, former Ohio state senator Nina Turner showed up in support of the doctors.
The passage of the Issue 1 referendum in Ohio followed the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision issued in 2022 that overturned its 1973 landmark Roe v Wade ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.
The Dobbs decision stripped America's women of federal protection for abortion and handed authority to legislate abortion and reproductive rights to the respective states. In turn, activist women in Ohio moved quickly to get Issue 1 passed in November of 2023. They say the harassment of Beene and and Fouts Fowler by University Hospitals officials is not surprising and is an establishment tactic designed to silence free speech and to punish women for fighting for women's reproductive and other rights.
University Hospitals claims the doctors were fired for using a database to contact employees in support of union organizing and sending phone texts, a pretext for an illegal termination, activists have said.
Activists said Wednesday that the pickets against University Hospitals will continue until justice is served, including the reinstatement of Drs. Beene and Fouts Fowler.
Beene and Foust Fowler have said that patient care is also at issue when doctors who advocate for patients are erroneously fired.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com
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