But rather than legalizing marijuana, the 2025 Issue 2 has to do with something far less controversial.
If voters approve this new Issue 2 on the May ballot, the state will be allowed to borrow billions of dollars over the next decade to fund local infrastructure projects. Think roads, bridges, water and sewer management systems — the nuts and bolts of local government.
What exactly does Issue 2 do?
Issue 2 reauthorizes the State Capital Improvement Program, which has existed in various forms since voters first approved it in 1987. Voters have renewed it three times since then, most recently in 2014.
Under Issue 2, the state would be allowed to sell up to $2.5 billion in bonds, spread out over the next ten years. This is larger than the $1.875 billion that voters were asked to approve in the 2014 vote. State lawmakers who back the measure are asking for the larger amount because they say construction is more expensive than it was a decade ago.
If voters approve Issue 2, the state must pay back the bonds over a 30-year period, sort of like a mortgage loan. With interest, the total cost will be $3.84 billion, according to an estimate from the Legislative Service Commission, the state legislature’s nonpartisan research arm.
If the measure fails, the state infrastructure program will lapse on July 1.
How did Issue 2 get on the ballot this year?
The Ohio constitution strictly limits the state’s ability to borrow money. So any borrowing program requires a constitutional amendment, which only can be approved through a statewide vote.
The Ohio General Assembly voted in December to put Issue 2 on the May ballot.
When is the primary election?
The election is on May 6, although general early voting will begin on Tuesday, April 8.
The voter registration deadline for the election is Monday, April 7. Voters can register or update their registration online at the Ohio Secretary of State’s website. They also can do so in person at their local Board of Elections. Local government offices, like libraries, commonly have voter registration forms.
Click here for a full list of early voting locations and here for a list of voting hours.
Issue 2 will appear on every ballot in the state. But some communities also will hold votes to decide things like municipal offices and local liquor options.
The Ohio Public Works Commission, the state agency that administers the State Capital Improvement Program, keeps records of every project the program has funded.
From 2017 to 2024, the state spent more than $2 billion on more than 4,000 projects in communities around the state via grants and loans to local governments.
Didn’t we just vote on Issue 2?
Yes. In November 223, Ohioans approved an Issue 2, which legalized recreational marijuana in Ohio.
But Ohio is reusing the number for this vote. The measures aren’t related.
The measure has widespread support including Republican and Democratic elected officials, labor unions, business groups and regional planning groups, according to a supporters list compiled by the Yes on Issue 2 campaign.
Backers say the program helps fund crucial local government infrastructure programs.
State Rep. Scott Oelslager, a North Canton Republican, said in a speech on the Ohio House floor in December the program is especially important for small communities.
“I’ve had examples where small township trustees have come up to me and said, ‘You know, there are some years where without this money, we’d have no money for road, bridges and sewer repairs,’” Oelslager said.
Here are the official arguments in favor of Issue 2, which are required as part of the state’s rules for ballot issues. They were written by a bipartisan group of four state lawmakers.
Who opposes it?
Issue 2 has no formal opposition. A few Republican legislators voted against placing it on the ballot in December but they didn’t explain their reasons.
The lack of official detractors left the job of writing legally required opposing arguments with state employees.
The arguments take issue with the new borrowing amount being larger than the old one and the long repayment period. They also point out that the program requires state taxpayers to pay for projects they likely don’t benefit from.
No, although the state would be obligated to pay the money back. The bonds the state would issue would be backed by the state’s general revenues, most of which come from state income and sales taxes.
These debt payments will cost between $19 million and $192 million annually, although the exact amounts could change based on interest rates, according to the Legislative Service Commission. Paying the debt could come at the expense of other state priorities.
(Andrew Tobias is the Statewide state government and politics reporter)
Signal Statewide is a nonprofit news organization covering government, education, health, economy and public safety.
H.O.T. Graphics in Northwood, which serves corporate, creative and nonprofit clients, is facing higher costs for paper and aluminum plates due to the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. (Courtesy Photo/Greg Shapiro/Envelope Mart)
Higher costs of imported goods boosts expenses, prices
President Donald Trump called Wednesday, April 2, “Liberation Day,” claiming that the new tariffs he is imposing on imported goods will free the United States from its reliance on foreign products.
The tariffs, which are taxes charged on goods from other countries, are impacting businesses and consumers around the world and across the United States, raising prices on everything from automobiles and steel imports to paper products and groceries.
The goal, according to Trump, is to boost domestic manufacturing and cut down on the nation’s $1.2 trillion trade deficit by making it more expensive for firms to ship their products into the U.S.
On Feb. 10, the White House imposed a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum products imported into this country.
Many foreign nations have been charging tariffs on imported U.S. products for decades, and Trump said he is setting “fair and reciprocal” tariffs on imports from about 60 countries starting April 9.
Trump’s plan, announced April 2 in a news conference in the White House Rose Garden, includes a 10 percent baseline tariff on goods from all countries effective April 12.
On March 26, Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported automobiles and auto parts.
The April 2 announcement included a 34 percent tariff on China, on top of a recently imposed 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods, effectively setting the total tariffs on Chinese products at 54 percent.
Trump had previously set 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico, and those two U.S. neighbors were exempt from any further tariffs announced April 2.
Toledo-area firms have been watching and monitoring tariff news closely, hoping to gauge the impact on their businesses and their customers.
“I don’t think it will be catastrophic to our business, but it certainly would affect our margins and profitability,” said Greg Shapiro, a principal of two Northwood-based companies that are being impacted by tariffs.
Greg Shapiro.
One of them, Envelope Mart USA, manufactures and prints millions of envelopes every day and distributes them to high-volume mailers across the U.S.
Shapiro’s other business, H.O.T. Graphic Services, is a regional printing company that serves corporate, creative and nonprofit clients.
“The tariffs are a concern but it’s not something we’re losing sleep over at the moment,” Shapiro said.
Most of the paper his companies buy is made in the United States, he said, but one of their U.S. paper suppliers notified him that some raw materials used to make their paper comes from Canada, Mexico and China.
“We’ve dealt with disruptions for years, not so much because of tariffs but because of supply and demand, when paper mills shut down facilities,” Shapiro said.
Some of the big mills have transitioned from plants making paper to making corrugated cardboard because of all the growth in packaging with Amazon and other retailers. There have been times when we’ve been put on allocation for the amount of paper we can buy.
Greg Shapiro
In addition to raising the cost of paper, Shapiro said tariffs on aluminum are impacting his businesses because they use aluminum plates for printing.
“It’s not a major cost for printers, but it’s significant. I’m sure we spend well into six figures every year on printing plates.”
The ink and glue used by Envelope Mart USA and H.O.T. are manufactured in the United States and should not be affected by tariffs, he said.
One of Envelope Mart’s main paper suppliers notified its customers in March that it plans to add a surcharge once the tariffs go into effect.
“That would not be a good development for us because of the high volume of paper purchased,” Shapiro said. “It’s kind of out of our control, but we would be forced to pass the added costs on to new business, new contracts. For contracts that are already in effect, we probably will have to absorb some of those costs.”
Envelope Mart USA, based in Northwood, buys paper from U.S. companies that use components from Canada and Mexico. (Courtesy Photo/Greg Shapiro/Envelope Mart)
Jerry Hidalgo, president of Maumee-based Metric Metal/Parker Steel, said the majority of the steel and aluminum they purchase comes from Europe.
Metric Metal, as reflected in its name, specializes in metric-sized metals and sells bars, tubes, plates and sheets of steel, aluminum, copper, brass and carbon to firms across the U.S. and around the world.
“We’re a small company that buys relatively small quantities of a lot of different items,” Hidalgo said. “We’re not the target of the tariffs, but we’re collateral damage.”
Hidalgo said his company has been dealing with tariffs since mid-February.
“Everything we sell is manufactured to millimeters, and the majority of our products come from Europe, where metric is the standard.
The tariff on aluminum was 10 percent, and now it’s 25 percent. If the tariffs impact us, it makes it more expensive for our customers, certainly. If we’re selling into Canada, the tariff has to be included in the cost.
Jerry Hidalgo
“The tariffs will make it more expensive for our customers. Like most businesses, when you get an increase in your expenses, it has to be passed along to the consumer,” Hidalgo noted.
Hidalgo said Metric Metal/Parker Steel focuses on customer satisfaction. For example, he said that phone calls to the firm are answered personally by sales people, not a voicemail system. And when a customer calls to place an order, 96 percent of the time the product is shipped that same day.
Hidalgo said the tariffs on imported metals could have a silver lining for the American steel industry.
“Domestic steel mills will be in a position to be able to raise their price because the price coming from outside of the U.S. is being raised,” he said. “Tariffs will create more room for the domestic mills to be able to raise prices.”
Will your business be impacted by the tariffs? Let us know. Contact us at editor@toledofreepress.com.
Wamsley swimming in October 2024 from Pointe Bonita to Angel Island under the Golden Gate Bridge. (Courtesy photo by John Grunstad)
MAUMEE – Think of it as a two-for-one event and a healthy partnership. Partners for Clean Streams will have a kickoff meeting to train water quality monitor volunteers from 1-3 p.m. on April 19 in the Indianola Shelter at Farnsworth Metropark.
There will also be a special guest: A woman who is training to swim the English Channel, and she has a few things to say about the need for clean water and empowering women.
Amy Wamsley. (Courtesy Photo/Johnny Polansky)
Oh, yes, and that woman, Amy Wamsley, will take a dip in the Maumee River to punctuate her messages, including why swimming is healthy in more ways than one.
Wamsley, 49, is a business consultant from the Dayton area who has been training for months to do the iconic marathon swim from England to France, considered by some to be Mount Everest of water-based endurance feats.
“I first dreamed of swimming the English Channel when I was 12,” Wamsley said. “I came across a magazine article about swimmers who completed the challenge. At the time, I was a competitive swimmer, and I remember thinking, ‘If they can do it, so can I.’”
Wamsley set a goal of completing the swim by age 50. “My swim window closes just three days before my 50th birthday. This is my chance to fulfill that promise to my 12-year-old self.”
There’s more to it than plunging in the water. Wamsley registered with the agency overseeing the swims and was assigned a timeframe during the channel swim season. She leaves for England May 14 – her swim window is May 30 through June 10. She’ll be accompanied by a piloted boat with two friends on board for medical and overall support.
She said typically there are several swimmers making the crossing at a time, spread out in the channel. The swim takes about 15 hours to cover the roughly 21 miles.
Amy Wamsley swimming in October 2024 from Pointe Bonita to Angel Island under the Golden Gate Bridge. (Courtesy Photo/John Grunstad, a member of the South End Rowing Club.)
Why be in Northwest Ohio and connect with Partners for Clean Streams, based in Perrysburg? One of her goals of the channel swim is to raise awareness of the need for clean water.
“Clean water is essential, not only for swimmers, but for entire ecosystems,” she said. “Poor water quality can expose people to harmful bacteria, chemicals and pollutants, increasing the risk of infections and illness.”
Wamsley speaks from experience. On a training swim in what was thought to be clean water, she got a severe bacterial infection. She’s also seen trash and pollution in some swims.
“We drink this water. It’s what we’re swimming in, pulling fish out of,” she said, referencing the Maumee River’s famous Walleye Run.
To spread her message of water health, Wamsley has reached out to agencies connected to Ohio’s scenic rivers – of which the Maumee is one.
“Our organization built our mission around partnering with individuals and organizations who share similar missions,” said Kayla Kirkpatrick, Partners for Clean Streams program specialist. “When Amy came to us, she expressed her reasoning, which we were very excited to hear.
“We decided that our April 19 Water Quality Monitoring Training event would be a perfect way to tie in the two missions. We believe in having fishable, swimmable, drinkable waters. How could we say no?”
Amy Wamsley swimming in La Jolla, California in April 2024. Wamsley will guest speak at the Partners for Clean Streams meeting on April 19. (Courtesy Photo/Dan Simonelli, International Hall of Fame Inductee for Marathon Swimming Coaching and owner/founder of Open Water Swimming Academy in California. )
Kirkpatrick continued, “We felt that we could support each other’s mission by sharing our volunteer base to her efforts. In return, we felt that Amy’s swim would be a great way to spark the interest of people in our community to come join us, not just for the event itself, but continue to take part in the future.”
Wamsley addressed the health issue. “Swimming is one of the best full-body exercises, offering physical and mental health benefits. On a personal level, swimming has had a profound impact on my own health journey.”
There’s more to her undertaking than health and promoting clean water. “I don’t look like someone who’s going to swim the English Channel,” she said matter-of-factly.
“It doesn’t matter what our bodies look like. No matter how old we are, we can still try to [pursue dreams]. There’s a whole thing about women empowerment. We can still encourage each other to succeed in whatever it is that we want to succeed in.”
Wamsley added, “This past year has been one of the hardest of my life, and I truly believe that without swimming and a dedicated goal to work toward, it would have been much more difficult to navigate.”
Registration for the April 19 training is available here.
On this episode of Behind the Byline, host Jaden Jefferson has a conversation with Erin Baker, chair of the City of Toledo Human Relations Commission (HRC), and commissioner Caryn Maloney.
HRC was created in 2018 by the Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz administration, and has 11 appointed community members.
Maloney and Baker talk about:
the three active committees: Community of Neighborhoods, Social Justice and Youth Empowerment and Engagement
the break down of who serves on those committees and how they see the commission as a bridge to the community
how being an HRC volunteer is about passionate community members who care about advocacy and making sure the community’s voice is heard
Snow Angel Project
Human Library and it’s upcoming event in May
the challenges of this current climate, and how important it is that HRC volunteers are free to create spaces for people to feel welcome and connected through greater understanding
TOLEDO – Toledo Athletic and JAC have announced that the Zac Brown Band will headline JobsOhio’s Glass City Live at the Glass Bowl on Saturday, May 24. Dustin Lynch, Luke Grimes and Gaelic Storm will open the show.
The last major concert at the Glass Bowl occurred on July 1, 1994, when the Beach Boys and America came to town.
JAC Management Group LLC serves as the promoter and producer for the event. They are responsible for booking the bands, promoting the show and selecting the artists, in addition to managing the ticket pricing, marketing and all production details.
The first announcement of Glass City Live came on Oct. 26 at halftime during Toledo and Bowling Green’s Battle of I-75. It has been in the works for two years.
Ken Bigley, chief operating officer of JAC Management Group, said their relationships helped book the Zac Brown Band for the event.
“We’ve been promoters for over two decades. We promote throughout the midwest, in most of the United States,” Bigley said. “We have a very good name in the industry, and we’ve been doing it for a very long time. We operate in arenas and theaters, as well as promote.”
In reference to Brown, he said “he’s an iconic artist at this point, and we know he’s great to deal with and that people love to come and see him, so he’s a great act.”
Bigley also said that it was a great testament to the skills of his management group that the Zac Brown Band is set to perform in such a large venue that has not hosted a concert this size since 1994. The strong relationship with Brown played a role in the performer’s willingness to headline the show.
Bigley noted the challenges promoters go through to put on a concert, particularly in a city like Toledo.
“The initial challenge is looking through and making sure what people want to see, and going through the demographics and market information to make sure you pick the right act. Also, geographically, Toledo is in a spot where your proximity to Detroit, the proximity to Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland to the east; there’s a major throughway that helps as far as artists coming back,” Bigley explained.
“When you’re dealing with a show of this scale, there are some pretty large radius clauses. So if somebody’s playing within one of those major cities within a couple of hundred miles, it usually rules out or there’s usually a couple of hundred-mile radius on a lot.”
Ken Bigley, chief operating officer of JAC Management Group
Bigley added that the University of Toledo and the athletic department have helped pave the way for this concert.
While the Glass Bowl will host its first concert in over 30 years, the University of Michigan recently announced it will host Zach Bryan for the first concert ever performed at their football stadium. Bigley said that artists book places like Michigan because they may be chasing attendance records, while universities want to provide a better quality of life for their students. Another goal could be to do something that will have a large economic impact on smaller businesses, restaurants and bars in the city.
At the press conference announcing the event, University of Toledo athletic director Bryan Blair discussed the partnership with the JAC Management team and how sports and concerts bring people together.
The University of Toledo Glass Bowl will be the venue for the JobsOhio’s Glass City Live on May 24. (TFP Photo/Max Alfonso)
“Sports and music have a lot in common. We talk a lot about the value of sports bringing people together, and music in many ways emulates those same characteristics. It brings about a deep-seated passion and emotions that you often tap into; that feeling of being in a venue and singing the same song in harmony – those are the same things we see at our athletics events, and those are the same things we see at big-time concerts,” Blair said.
“When you set out to do a concert in a football stadium, in the Glass Bowl, you have to have a shared vision, and there has to be a total lineup as you go in the same direction.”
Blair shared his thoughts on the economic and emotional impact this will have on the city of Toledo.
“I just think about the restaurants, the dining, the bars, the shopping, all that comes to life when you bring an event of this magnitude to the Glass Bowl and our campus,” Blair said.
“You’ve got that vision of tens of thousands of people on the turf in the Glass Bowl as the sun sets. You think about tens of thousands of people locking arms, hugging, and swaying, singing the same song in unison, and building lifelong memories with those they are closest to,” Blair envisions.
“We’ll have that place in their heart for eternity, that’s a special opportunity.”
Bigley said Glass City Live is designed to be an annual event depending on the municipality, media, community and business support. He also said the best way to stay updated is to visit the Glass City Live website. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
Pro-choice clinic escort Kristin Hady escorts a woman into the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo.
This is the second of a limited series about reproductive healthcare options and care for women in the Toledo area.
TOLEDO – When the Toledo Free Press caught up with Kristin Hady at Maddie & Bella in downtown Perrysburg, she was wearing a necklace with the word “abortion” on it, just in case anyone might be tempted to question her stance on reproductive rights.
Hady is a board member for The Aggie Fund, an organization founded in 1992 to fund abortions for residents of Toledo and surrounding areas. It is a volunteer-led, 501(c)3 organization that — at the time of this interview — had just hosted a bake sale fundraiser at the Toledo Women’s Center, which is Toledo’s sole abortion clinic.
Lauren Howard, left, and Kristin Hady volunteer as pro-choice clinic escorts at the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo. They were outnumbered by about a dozen pro-life activists at the clinic. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Bob Schoen holds rosary beads as he prays outside of the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo in November. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
As a child growing up in Toledo, just a few blocks from the Women’s Center (formerly known as Capital Care Network), Hady didn’t have an understanding of the Center’s mission, but she did get the sense that it was controversial.
“We used to see this super old man that would walk the sidewalk with a giant cross on his back, but not realize what it was,” recalled Hady, referring to who she now recognizes as a likely anti-abortion protester.
Hady was inspired to abortion activism when she read work by Robin Marty, the author of Crow After Roe and Handbook for a Post-Roe America. The author’s account of a clinic escort’s experience made her want to work as an abortion escort, despite the details of that escort being harassed. She started volunteering for Toledo Abortion Center Escorts (TAC), and her activism snowballed from there.
“I became a clinic escort and the rest is history,” said Hady, adding she then started getting involved in other aspects of pro-choice advocacy in Toledo. “It’s like a gateway drug, you know; it starts here and then you go do everything else.”
Hady is referring to her service on two boards — The Aggie Fund and Abortion Forward (formerly Pro-Choice Ohio until a name change in May 2024) — as well as her full-time position as program director for Abortion Access Front.
What to know about The Aggie Fund
How does The Aggie Fund work? Essentially, the organization is funded primarily by community donations, but they are also part of the National Network of Abortion Fundscollective. NNAF funding is distributed equally to abortion funds nationwide, including The Aggie Fund.
The Aggie Fund provides money for transportation, lodging and other logistical expenses, along with the money for the actual procedure (or pill). The abortion itself can cost between $600-$800, according to the Aggie Fund’s website. Because of demand, The Aggie Fund has to cap the amount of funds they disperse to make sure they can stay in operation.
The Toledo Women’s Center currently provides medication abortion up to 11 weeks and 6 days. Surgical abortions were provided at the Center about five years ago, but are not available at this time. However, the Center is in the process of being capable of providing surgical procedures in the near future.
“To ensure that we can still operate in a year, we have to unfortunately set monthly caps for how much we are able to fund out,” Hady said. “I don’t think there’s any fund in the country right now that is bringing in as much as they are spending monthly. We have 14 states with no abortion access anymore. Every time a state goes down, that ripples out; patients have to travel somewhere and, as the closest appointments fill up, the higher the costs are. Clinics are strapped.”
Hady adds that The Aggie Fund money goes to clinics like the Toledo Women’s Center, rather than directly to the patient. The Fund spent $9,860 on abortion costs for 76 patients from July 2020-June 2021; $42,812 on abortion costs for 162 patients from July 2021-June 2022; $140,744 for 405 patients from July 2022-June 2023; and helped an additional 51 patients from other states who needed to travel to get an abortion during that year (stats can be found at aggiefund.com). Their numbers have only increased since then.
“In ‘23 to ‘24, we’re probably going to get close to six figures — $200,000 — so our funding in four years has increased, you know, 2,000 percent,” said Hady, adding that “there’s a dearth of funding in the movement from the top down. The biggest funder of abortion, the National Abortion Federation, had to cut theirs. There are funds that run out every week, so when we unfortunately have to stick to our monthly budget, we are often out of additional money.”
The Aggie Fund serves residents of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Those who need help can see the map of counties they serve on their website here, along with links to other resources for those who live outside of those counties.
Pain point: The focus on trauma
In so many discussions about the life-threatening nature of limiting reproductive rights for women, many focus on the horror stories. Women who have pregnancy complications need abortions but can’t get them; women who miscarry and are denied care during their miscarriages; and other tragic stories that pull at the heartstrings of empathetic readers.
Joan Stowell prays outside of the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo. Stowell considers herself a sidewalk counselor and offers “love, support and prayer” for women who arrive at the clinic. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Joan Stowell, left, prays with a woman at the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo. Stowell considers herself a sidewalk counselor and offers “love, support and prayer” for women who arrive at the clinic. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
We asked Hady about any such scenarios she’s heard about from the women she helps, and her response was thought-provoking.
“I’ve talked to patients who had wanted pregnancies and then were diagnosed with cancer and had to get abortions. I’ve talked to patients who have six kids and just had another one and can’t afford them. Or, unfortunately, patients who may have been sexually assaulted. All of those stories we’ve heard are heartbreaking,” Hady said.
“But I also think sometimes we focus too often on the tragedy stories, and that we’re communicating that the only okay abortions are the ones that are…you have to have harm inflicted on your body to be deserving of it. No matter what their reasons, no matter their circumstances, we have to validate all abortion experiences.”
In other words, women shouldn’t have to have experienced tragic circumstances, like being raped, or having had a planned pregnancy go terribly wrong, in order to have an abortion. According to Hady and many other pro-choice activists, abortions without trauma should be viewed with an equal level of empathy and respect as those performed after a trauma.
Meet Amelia Stower: Toledo Women’s Center
There aren’t many 21-year-olds who can say they owned an abortion clinic, but Amelia Stower did. After the former owners of Toledo Women’s Center (still called Capital Care at the time) needed to step down in 2020, Stower took over for about 18 months. She was even the target of a lawsuit by Right to Life during her tenure.
Amelia Stower inside the Toledo Women’s Center patient lobby. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
“I took ownership in August [of 2020]; they didn’t hit me with the lawsuit until, I think it was the first week of March, and it was, coincidentally, right after we did a little hearing over getting a safety ordinance,” said Stower, explaining that she had publicly spoken about Center staff and patients being harrassed by pro-life protesters. She said that’s why they were proposing a “buffer zone” between the protesters and the Center.
The lawsuit filed against Capital Care and Stower claimed that because the organization and Stower herself did not have a medical license, they could not offer abortion services. “The thing is, they had been watching me since I took over ownership, so it’s just kind of funny timing to all of us that they chose then to suddenly go after me.”
On Feb. 16, 2024 the lawsuit was finally dropped with the following decision:
“Appellants, Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio, Greater Toledo Area Right to Life, and Jeffrey Barefoot (collectively, “Right to Life”), appeal from the judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas dismissing their action against appellees, Capital Care of Toledo, LLC, D/B/A Capital Care of Toledo (“Capital Care”), 2. and Amelia Stower, on grounds of mootness.” (State ex rel. Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio v. Capital Care of Toledo, L.L.C).
At 21, Stower received a full dose of what the conflict can be like on the abortion front, but she hasn’t backed down from the cause yet.
“I think it was a little bit of retaliation against me for speaking out,” she said. “But they also looked at my age, gender, and were like, ‘Oh, this might be easy. We can kind of scare her into shutting down.’”
Stower moved on from her role as owner so she could continue pursuing a degree at the University of Toledo, but she still has a very active role at the Center as assistant manager, a position that includes front desk administrative work, patient advocacy and funding management.
Complicated neighbors: The Center & The Haven
The Toledo Free Press covered The Pregnancy Center in September 2024, a story outlining what that organization does under the umbrella of the Bella Vita Network, a nonprofit that runs The Pregnancy Center, Soul Purpose and The Haven. The latter — a facility dedicated to counseling women and their partners who are coping with regrets post-abortion — is next to The Toledo Women’s Center.
Savannah Marten, the executive director of Bella Vita Network who we spoke to for that article, noted that the Center and the Haven have a “great relationship.”
Lauren Howard, back left, a volunteer for the Aggie Fund and an abortion clinic escort, and Aggie Fund board member Marcee Lichtenwald work the Agnes Reynolds Jackson Fund booth at the Trans & Thriving Fest last summer. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Stower weighed in. “I would say they treat us with respect. Yeah, they’ve always been nice enough to us. As far as pregnancy centers go, they’re one of the better ones.” She is referring to “pregnancy centers” in the broader sense of the term: Facilities that give ultrasounds and are often operated by pro-life groups.
Hady had this to say about the group’s proximity to the center and how the two organizations co-exist, along with her own experience with Marten: “We are diametrically opposed on many things, but I like Savannah as a person. I understand the heart that she has for this work. So I have a good relationship with her, because we have to. We do share that property. We do share that driveway.”
An intricate web
Though the focus of this article is on the ways reproductive rights volunteers can get involved with the movement, each interview we do prompts more digging. What is the future of abortion in Toledo when only one clinic remains and offers medicated abortions?
Though The Pregnancy Center coincides relatively peacefully alongside its ideological opposites, what is the approach of other pro-life centers in the Toledo area? And, finally, how are women in Toledo coping with the ever-changing landscape of reproductive care in the U.S.?
If you have stories to share, reach out via our Story Tip Line.
Pro-life activist Bob Schoen talks with escort Lauren Howard. Schoen has been showing up at the clinic for 12 years.
Lauren Howard, left, and Kristin Hady volunteer as pro-choice clinic escorts.
Joan Stowell, holding a gift bag, prays with a woman.
Lauren Howard, center, monitors pro-life activists at the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo.
Joan Stowell approaches a vehicle and prays at the Toledo Women’s Center.
Pro-choice clinic escort Kristin Hady escorts a woman into the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo.
Pro-choice clinic escorts Lauren Howard, left, and Kristin Hady escort a woman into the Toledo Women’s Center in Toledo.
