COLUMBUS, Ohio – A couple of political developments indicate how important the abortion issue will be in this year’s statewide elections.
Ohio Democrats are rolling out their full statewide ticket at an endorsement event hosted by abortion and women’s health care provider Planned Parenthood.
Meanwhile, supporters of a strict abortion bill are targeting Republican state senators in a mail campaign, claiming they have failed to keep their word.
The event in Columbus signals the party’s intention to make women’s health issues a campaign theme as they seek to unseat Gov. John Kasich and the state’s other Republican elected officials this fall.
Their slate includes gubernatorial contender Ed FitzGerald, the Cuyahoga County executive, and running mate Sharen Neuhardt, an outspoken abortion-rights advocate.
Ohio Right to Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion group, criticizes FitzGerald’s pick of a running mate who favors abortion rights as an effort to fire up extremists.
David Pepper is challenging Mike DeWine for attorney general; state Sen. Nina Turner is running for secretary of state; state Rep. John Patrick Carney of Columbus for state auditor; and state Rep. Connie Pillich for state treasurer.
The so-called heartbeat bill would effectively ban abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat — as early as six weeks into pregnancy – and its supporters are letting Republican lawmakers know they’re watching.
The measure met its demise in 2012 after the Senate’s GOP leader, who has since retired, blocked it from a vote. The idea was re-introduced in the Republican-controlled House in August, where it has not had a vote.
Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter says certain actions of anti-abortion senators are far from their words. She says the group is mailing several thousand postcards will go to residents of the senators’ districts beginning this week, suggesting the lawmakers are “Republican in name only.”