As Pride Month is celebrated, Hepatitis A epidemic in Ohio grows

MANSFIELD — As contributions of LGBT persons are celebrated during Pride Month by President Donald Trump and others across the nation, the State of Ohio is facing a growing problem linked with the LGBT lifestyle: a Hepatitis A epidemic.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Hepatitis A is primarily associated with injection drug abusers and men having sex with men.

“Our nation is celebrating high-risk lifestyles that leads to tragedy and regret,” says Reverend Jerry O’Brien of Faith Harvest Fellowship near Wooster.

O’Brien partners with baseball legend Darryl Strawberry with a message of hope to combat drug abuse across the state.

“Biblical faith addresses issues of the heart and is the missing piece of the puzzle to solve society’s problems, including the Opioid Crisis and the Hepatitis A outbreak. When there is nothing morally wrong with anything, quality of life is reduced, lives are prematurely lost, and society is left picking up the pieces.”

Ohio ranks second nationally among Hepatitis case counts. As a result, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) recently announced they will spend an additional $650,000 taxpayer dollars to vaccinate high-risk groups.

In 2017, the World Health Organization confirmed that in the United States, those at most risk to Hepatitis A are men having sex with men. The report went on to point out that the unusual increase in Hepatitis A was concerning since LGBT pride festivals take place between June and September.

Promoting harmful high-risk lifestyles has consequences, and institutions are not exempt.

In November 2017, Reverend DeWayne Smith of Mansfield Main Street United Methodist Church (UMC) hosted a meeting between UMC clergy and an OhioHealth representative to discuss the healthcare provider’s breach of the Methodist Book of Discipline and its lack of regard for public health.

“The representative (from OhioHealth) said in the meeting that, in Columbus, no one criticizes their promotion of LGBT events. However, he did acknowledge that ‘OhioHealth did not represent the community values of Mansfield in an effective manner.’ All we were asking was for OhioHealth to remain socially neutral on the issue.”

While OhioHealth is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it publicly sponsors local LGBT Pride events and remains a strong advocate for LGBT causes.

Prior to the clergy meeting, OhioHealth Mansfield received over two hundred letters and a large volume of phone calls from locals criticizing its sponsorship of the Mansfield Pride Event.

Just one week after the 2017 Mansfield Pride Event, OhioHealth Mansfied announced it was losing 110 jobs. In addition, new healthcare providers are moving into the area providing stiff competition to the largest employer in the county.

According to Smith, “Not only does OhioHealth’s promotion distort the Biblical position of the United Methodist denomination, it also gives the appearance that the welfare of individual lives are expendable for political and financial agendas. It seems corporate greed trumps public health.”

Editor’s Note: article updated June 13,2019