Ohio’s Jewish health director, who faced anti-Semitic backlash, resigns
A protester holds up a sign against Dr. Amy Acton outside of the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio on April 18, 2020, to protest the stay home order that is in effect until May 1st. Image by Megan Jelinger/Getty
(JTA) — Amy Acton, the Jewish Department of Health director in Ohio who came under fire for the stay-at-home orders to stem the coronavirus crisis, including armed protesters carrying signs with anti-Semitic messages, has resigned.
Acton, whose resignation was official on Thursday, will become the chief health adviser to Gov. Mike DeWine.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Acton was compared to the Nazis for supporting a reopening plan that included issuing certificates of immunity to businesses, and a “globalist,” an anti-Semitic slur, for extending stay-at-home orders in May.
Last month, the state’s House of Representatives passed legislation to limit Acton’s powers.
Ohio began lifting coronavirus restrictions in stages on May 4.
Protesters gathered in front of her Columbus-area home on weekends, some carrying guns and shouting slogans or carrying signs bearing anti-Semitic and sexist rhetoric, The Washington Post reported.
“While I’m pleased that Dr. Acton will continue to advise Governor DeWine on health issues, I can’t help but be disappointed by her resignation as health director,” Kenny Yuko, the state Senate’s minority leader, a Democrat, told the Columbus Dispatch. “She endured an incredible amount of unfair criticism, including some anti-Semitic attacks. All those who have insulted, harassed or threatened her and her family should be ashamed.”
Acton appeared on a CNN town hall co-hosted by “Sesame Street” on Saturday.
The post Ohio’s Jewish Health Department director, who faced an anti-Semitic backlash over stay-at-home orders, resigns appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
