Janine Boyd (born February 5, 1971) is an American politician who served as a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

for the 9th district from 2015 to 2022. She resigned from her House seat in April 2022 to take a position in the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

Early life and education

A native of

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...

, Boyd graduated from the Beaumont School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

in 1993 and a Master of Arts in speech and language pathology from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

in 1999. Boyd is the daughter of Barbara Boyd, who held the same seat from 1993 to 2000 and from 2007 to 2014.

Career

Boyd previously served on council for Cleveland Heights, where she often faced criticism for her attendance. In 2012, she was appointed to council to replace Phyllis Evans. In 2014, she announced that she would seek to replace her mother, Barbara Boyd, in the

. She faced Republican Charles Hopson in the general election, and went on to win 85%-15%. During debate on an Ohio

six-week abortion ban A six-week abortion ban or early abortion ban, called a "heartbeat bill" or "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents, is a form of abortion restriction legislation in the United States. These bans make abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestatio ...

, banning

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

after detection of a " fetal heartbeat", Boyd drafted an amendment that would give an exemption to African American women, "whose history includes rape and forced birth imposed on enslaved women and black women after slavery". The amendment failed, and the bill was signed into law. A federal judge issued an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...

against the bill before it took effect. In April 2022, Boyd was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as a regional director of the

for the fifth region, which covers

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. In late 2022, Boyd left the HHS to care for her ailing mother in Cleveland Heights. Her mother died in November 2022. In February 2023, City of Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren appointed Boyd "to fill the vacant, unexpired term on Cleveland Heights City Council ending 12/31/2023."

References

External links

Campaign websiteCampaign Facebook page
1971 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio Women state legislators in Ohio Ohio city council members African-American women in politics Women city councillors in Ohio African-American state legislators in Ohio 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American city council members in Ohio 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Hillsdale College alumni Michigan State University alumni {{Ohio-OHRepresentative-stub