Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State and Senate candidate, supports women, children, health care

Intro: I don't live in Ohio so I didn't know Jennifer Brunner until her campaign manager contacted me. At MOMocrats, we're always interested in progressive women candidates---especially moms---so I did a little due diligence digging before replying. A reformer, I found, a straight shooter, appears to be quite intelligent, and judicious in her approach to issues. Not surprising, since she used to be a judge. I was intrigued, and I replied.

As with any kind of pitch, the "pitcher" needs to sell the person, product or idea to me first, and David Dettman, her campaign manager, did a good job of that.

We agreed to an interview, but then I thought about what this week is dedicated to at MOMocrats---Mother's Day Every Day---so I suggested that instead, this week, Jennifer Brunner might speak about health care for pregnant and post-partum women and babies.

They agreed. I waited for the piece to arrive, and when it did, I read it with increasing admiration. By the end, I checked, and yes, my socks? Were knocked off.

Take a minute and read what Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State and Senatorial candidate has to say on this issue. It's well worth your time. . .

By the time you finish reading this post, another woman somewhere in the world will have died during pregnancy and childbirth. It happens every minute. And what makes things worse is that the very children who lose their mothers are the ones most likely to suffer from illness, malnutrition or poverty, or all of them. That is why women need to speak up – to raise awareness, spread the word, and motivate more people to push for adequate health care for pregnant women and newborns.

 

Some say because mothers do so much—so many small, but important everyday tasks, that a mother’s job is thankless.  Any mother knows that is not so—tiring, yes, but thankless, no.  I am the mother of three children, and I believe that any mother who has looked into the face of her smiling child knows she is appreciated.  The sense of satisfaction she finds when she helps her child (no matter the age) solve a problem or overcome obstacles is beyond compare.  It creates hope for that child’s future and what his or her potential will be to the rest of the world.

 

Motherhood is never an easy road, especially the physical challenges of prenatal care, giving birth to a healthy newborn and recovering quickly for this hugely dependent new being.  Twenty-five years ago I gave birth to a 10 lb 4 oz baby girl and experienced hemorrhaging that took my blood pressure all the way down to 80 over 12.  Thankfully, I gave birth in the hospital and was able to receive immediate medical emergency attention.  My father, a ten pound baby himself, had been born in the house he grew up in, and luckily, he and his mother survived the experience with aplomb.  My mother-in-law, however, had not been so fortunate. Living in rural Ohio near a small town hospital, she lost a child, and nearly her life, to toxemia – all because of poor prenatal care.  The trauma and physical changes that came with that event she discusses even today at age 78.  And the loss of that child has affected her for more than half a century.

Adequate health care for pregnant mothers and their newborns is more than a personal issue—is an important public policy issue.  As a judge, I had before me for sentencing a pregnant criminal defendant with a minimal prior record who was in her first trimester but had already tested positive for drugs and was dating a drug dealer.  Faced with this situation, I sent her to prison long enough to have the child and receive early newborn care while in prison, knowing that the only women’s prison in the state allowed women to have their babies in prison and keep them with them.  The attorney for the woman protested, because the 7-month sentence seemed harsh to him.  I explained to him that this was the best chance she and her child would have to start out a healthy, drug-free life with adequate prenatal care and that would allow them to bond.  

 

Several years ago, as a Franklin County Judge, I presided over one of the most memorable and saddest cases in my judicial tenure. The case concerned a mother who was given an anesthetic called bupivicaine at child birth. Sadly, this drug, if injected into the bloodstream, can be fatal, and indeed, the mother died. The jury found the doctor guilty of negligence.  But the victim’s husband was left alone to care for their child, whose birthday forever falls on the anniversary of his mother’s death. 

The bottom line is simple: quality, affordable health care in our country should not be a privilege enjoyed by the few, but a right belonging to each of us. It is vitally essential that pregnant women and their newborns receive adequate prenatal, natal and neonatal health care.  So many other problems, health, social and economic, can be prevented with this simple commitment.  I wish each of you mothers who read this a beautiful Mother’s Day, and I urge all of us to make every day a mother’s day by supporting the global effort to provide women with the prenatal care that is necessary to preserve and protect their lives and the lives of their children. For more information, please visit www.MothersDayEveryDay.org.

Jennifer Brunner is the Ohio Secretary of State and the only mom running for the United States Senate in Ohio. She was elected twice as a judge, first defeating a governor's appointee in a largely conservative county. She prevailed statewide in a 4-way race for an open seat for Ohio Secretary of State by a 15-point margin over her Republican opponent from Hamilton County, winning even in his home county. After serving as Ohio's Secretary of State for just over a year, she was awarded the Profile in Courage Award by the bipartisan board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for fighting for needed election reforms related to voting machine reliability and security. The Profile in Courage Award is considered the nation's most prestigious honor for elected public servants.
Brunner is running in the May 2010 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Senator George Voinovich. A recent Quinnipiac University press release on its poll of the race called it "a wide-open affair". Jennifer and Rick Brunner have been married for 30 years, have three adult children and live in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, please visit www.jenniferbrunner.com.

Comments

[Glennia]

I grew up in Ohio, and after reading this, I wish I were still there to vote for Jennifer Brunner. I'm sending this to my relatives there, and wish you good luck in the election.

[Kim Carter]

I do live in Ohio and I will vote for Brunner.

I was surfing the web this morning and found a hilarious spoof about this race at ProgressOhio.

If you want a Friday laugh, it's worth it:

http://www.progressohio.org/page/community/post/vanessadavis/CqWr

[Dorri Steinhoff]

As both a mom and an election integrity activist, I wholeheartedly support Jennifer Brunner in her quest to become Ohio's next senator. I plan to work on her campaign because Ohio needs an independent thinking, accomplished woman to lead our state in these difficult times.

[Jen]

I will be rooting (and voting) for her. Although I know we'll miss her as Secretary of State -- she's such a nice, sane contrast to the last person who held that office.

[june]

Jennifer Brunner is a very sincere, caring person. She really knows the issues, and seems to have a real sense of people's needs. I met her once, and found her to be very honest and down to earth, not at all like most politicians. As a new mom myself, I really hope that my fellow Ohioans elect her to the Senate.