Abortion and women’s reproductive rights are major election issues, particularly since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

It’s no different in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio between Sherrod Brown, the incumbent Democratic senator seeking his fourth six-year term, and Republican Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer and blockchain owner.

The matchup is considered one of the most competitive Senate races in the country and could decide which political party controls the upper chamber.

In Ohio, voters approved a constitutional amendment in November to ensure access to abortions and reproductive health care.

Brown supported the amendment — as did most Democrats — while Moreno, like many Republicans, opposed it.

It was one of several topics I discussed during a Wednesday interview with Moreno.

Moreno also supports a ban. on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with some restrictions — rape, incest or the life of the mother — after that time. Previously, Moreno said he was 100% pro-life with no exceptions.

Moreno said he has his “personal religious beliefs” on abortion, which are “very different than what I’m going to do as a United States senator.”

Despite his personal support, Moreno said now is not the time for a national abortion law.

Moreno said: “Aspirationally, something we can get to down the road is that we can look at saying that after 15 weeks, like most left-wing European countries, there are some common-sense restrictions on abortion. I think that makes a lot of sense to me. We aren’t going to get there right away.”

What he didn’t say is abortion bans have been an election problem for Republicans nationally during the past couple of years.

Moreno said Brown is on the extreme liberal fringe because “he believes that abortion should happen all the way to birth.”

Brown said he supports abortion access for all women and that those decisions should be between a patient and a doctor with no government interference.

In a Wednesday opinion piece for The Cincinnati Enquirer, Brown wrote: “My opponent has made it clear that he thinks he knows better than Ohioans, or that simply he doesn’t care what we think. Fighting back against that kind of arrogance is one of the most important parts of my job. I have always fought for Ohio women’s freedoms to make their own health care decisions and I always will.”

Brown added: “The choice is clear: It’s between protecting the freedom Ohioans have demanded and a politician who wants to take it away — who thinks he knows better. I’m confident that just as they did last year, Ohioans will make their support for abortion rights clear this November.”

Moreno told me that Brown “only cares about abortion because it’s a political issue for him. He does not care about women.”

Moreno said: “Ask Sherrod Brown to clarify his position of whether he thinks it’s OK to have an abortion with a healthy mom and a healthy fetus in weeks 30, 35, 39, 40. He won’t answer that question. That’s a question you should ask him because that’s what people in Ohio need to know.”

Moreno added: “Does he think it’s OK to have an abortion in week 40 with a healthy mom and a healthy baby? I say no. What does he say?”

Brown hasn’t been clear on how late a healthy woman with a healthy fetus can have an abortion, Moreno said. Brown often points to his statements that the decision “should be between her and her doctor.”

“He believes that abortion should happen all the way to birth,” Moreno said of Brown.

Moreno said: “My position is very simple — we should do everything possible to promote a culture of life in this country. That means women should have access to good health care, that they have equal access to contraception” and we should “make sure that adoption is less expensive and more available and make it less expensive to raise kids and have kids.”

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.