Politics & Government

Politifact: Sherrod Brown claim about Bernie Moreno and abortion misses the mark

WOSU 89.7 NPR News | By PolitiFact

Published September 20, 2024 at 10:52 AM EDT

Bernie Moreno raises his fist while speaking. — Bernie Moreno speaking during the second day of the Republican National Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee.

WOSU Public Media is partnering with Politifact to provide fact-checking reporting in Ohio for the 2024 campaign.

In his race to win a fourth term as Ohio’s senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown said his Republican challenger has a hard line against legal abortion at any cost.

During a September interview with a Columbus, Ohio, NBC television station, Brown criticized campaign opponent Bernie Moreno for opposing the state constitutional amendment that protected abortion access.

"Now, he’s arguing for a national abortion ban, no exceptions," Brown said.

Brown is partly accurate in that Moreno has expressed support for a national law addressing abortion restrictions, but is misleading about Moreno’s current views on exceptions to anti-abortion laws.

Although Moreno, a business owner who has not held elected office, has previously described himself as opposing exceptions, that’s not how he is campaigning in 2024. Moreno told the Columbus Dispatch in October, after he entered the Senate race, that he would support a federal law restricting abortions after 15 weeks with what he called "common-sense restrictions."

In an email to PolitiFact, Moreno’s campaign spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said Moreno supports exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s life. We asked Moreno’s campaign to clarify whether, should he win the race, he would vote for a bill banning abortion at 15 weeks with exceptions. But McCarthy did not address that question or respond to a follow-up.

"Throughout this race, Bernie has made it clear that he supports commonsense exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the Mother," McCarthy wrote.

Asked for evidence behind Brown’s claim, Brown’s campaign pointed us to 2021 and 2022 statements in which Moreno described himself as "100% pro-life with no exceptions." The campaign also pointed us to more recent statements from Moreno saying in 2023 that he would vote for a national abortion ban in the Senate.

Brown campaign spokesperson Reeves Oyster also pointed to Moreno's opposition to a 2023 amendment to enshrine abortion access in Ohio’s constitution.

Until voters approved the state constitutional amendment in 2023, Ohio had a law banning abortion once cardiac activity is detected in a fetus, which can be as early as six weeks. The law contained no exceptions for rape or incest, but it contained a narrow medical exception.

The law was only enforced for a few months before being temporarily blocked in court in October 2022, while courts considered a lawsuit challenging the law. It remained blocked until voters approved the constitutional amendment last year.

Brown’s campaign said in opposing the abortion access amendment, Moreno voted to uphold the six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.

We examined how those claims stack up with Moreno’s record and his statements on abortion on the campaign trail.

Moreno in 2021: ‘I’m 100% pro-life with no exceptions’

Moreno has a history of supporting strict abortion bans and said before 2024 that he did not support exceptions, including for rape and incest.

When he ran in Ohio’s 2022 Republican primary for Senate, Moreno said he opposed exceptions to abortion bans.

"I’m 100 percent pro-life with no exceptions," Moreno told the conservative website Breitbart in December 2021. The article noted that Moreno confirmed in the interview he believed "there should be no exceptions for rape or incest, or anything else."

In a later interview with radio host Kevin Gordon in 2022, Moreno said he was "absolute pro-life, no exceptions."

In March, Moreno criticized his primary opponent for voting against Ohio’s law restricting abortion at around six weeks.

Moreno also opposed the 2023 Ohio ballot measure to add to the state’s constitution protections for abortion access. He donated $100,000 to Protect Women Ohio, a group campaigning to defeat the measure.

What is Moreno saying now?

This year, as he seeks Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat, Moreno has expressed support for banning abortion at 15 weeks, but he’s also said he favors some exceptions to that limit.

In an October 2023 Columbus Dispatch article, after Moreno had entered the Republican Senate primary race, he was quoted in support of a 15-week federal ban, with exceptions.

"That's what can be passed in the House," Moreno said of a 15-week federal ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the pregnant woman’s life. "That's what's going to be passed to the Senate, I believe. It's what gets signed by the president when we (win) the office back in 2025."

During a 2024 Republican primary debate in January, he said that, at the federal level, he supports "getting to a point where we can have a 15-week floor, where there's common-sense restrictions after 15 weeks."

After the Republican National Committee removed from its 2024 platform a statement of support for a national abortion ban, a reporter asked Moreno whether his position contradicted the national party’s position. Moreno’s answer was less direct.

"We’re not here to talk about abortion," Moreno said. "My position is crystal, crystal clear. It has not changed on abortion."

"I do think that at some point, aspirationally, we can get to the point where after 15 weeks, there’s some common-sense restrictions" on abortion, Moreno said in a Sept. 1 interview with NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt.

Moreno said in that interview he believes abortion is "mostly an issue for the states," referring to how former President Donald Trump has talked about the issue. Moreno has said in other interviews he would allow states to be more restrictive with their abortion policies.

Moreno frequently objects to the use of the word "ban" to describe his position. He calls it a "15-week standard," or "restriction." In a March debate, he said calling his position a ban is a "media, Democrat talking point."

Our ruling

Brown said of Moreno: "Now he’s arguing for a national abortion ban, no exceptions."

Moreno has supported strict abortion bans in the past. In a prior 2022 Senate run, he said he was "100% pro-life with no exceptions," and he said he opposed exceptions for rape or incest.

In his 2024 campaign, Moreno has said he supports federal limits on abortion after 15 weeks, with exceptions. Those exceptions include in cases of rape, incest and to save the pregnant woman’s life, according to his campaign.

Brown was correct to say that Moreno has argued for a national limit on abortion, but he was wrong when he said Moreno’s position includes "no exceptions."

The statement contains some truth but it omits key details. We rate it Half True.

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to clarify Ohio's six-week abortion ban was temporarily blocked in court in October 2022.