Senate candidate Bernie Moreno addresses controversial comments about women voters and abortion

Moreno, who is running against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in one of the country's most-watched races this year, told the Times that he never intended to offend anyone with his “joke” about women over 50.

“Unfortunately, we live in a society where people wake up every day and try to be offended,” he said, according to the newspaper. “I'm sure you've said things that you found funny in the moment, and in hindsight you think, 'Hey, obviously that's not the best wording I could have used.'”

However, Moreno also told the Times that Brown's campaign and his supporters – who have aired television ads criticizing Moreno for his comments – had twisted his words.

“I never said women were crazy. I said it’s crazy,” he said. “It is an adjective that does not refer to a woman. It's crazy that they make them look like women are single voters. This is crazy because women are not individual voters.”

Democrats have also sought to portray Moreno as an anti-abortion extremist in general, pointing to a 2021 remark Moreno made that he was “100% pro-life, no exceptions.”

Moreno tried to change that perception by telling the Times — as he said on the campaign trail this year — that he supports “reasonable limits” on abortion restrictions, including exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and that too He “respects the will” of Ohio voters who added guarantees for abortion rights to the state constitution last year.

He also claimed that in the current political climate, “there is no way to pass abortion legislation one way or the other in Washington, D.C.”

At the same time, Moreno told the newspaper that he was “intended” to support federal restrictions on abortions after 15 weeks, with the exceptions noted above. Moreno said that such a measure, if passed, “would not be a ban by definition” but rather “means you can't just do it however you want, so there are no elective late-term abortions.”

Moreno accused Brown of using abortion as a “political weapon,” but Moreno himself also went on the offensive on the issue, claiming that Brown's voting record showed that he was an “extremist on abortion.”

Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland seeking a fourth term in the Senate, has co-sponsored a federal law allowing abortions without restrictions before fetal viability (approximately 24 weeks into a pregnancy, which was the standard under Roe v. Wade). Based on fetal viability, the bill would generally ban abortions unless an abortion provider believes that continuing a pregnancy would endanger the life or health of the mother.

During the interview, Moreno also tried to shift the focus from abortion to a handful of related but separate issues, including expanding access to contraceptives.

“Women don’t have access to contraceptives at all like men do,” Moreno said. “I could go to the pharmacy straight away – in two minutes I'll be out with a Diet Coke and a contraceptive. Women don't have that. So let’s equalize access to contraceptives.”

He added that he wants to “invest resources in schools to empower women” and reduce the cost of adopting and raising children.

Maggie Amjad, a spokeswoman for the Brown campaign, said in a statement that Moreno had “repeatedly confirmed that he would overturn the will of Ohio voters by voting for a statewide abortion ban,” again referencing Moreno's previous ” 100% pro-life” comment.

“While Sherrod follows the majority of Ohioans who believe a woman has the right to make her own health decisions, Moreno has made it clear that he believes he knows better,” Amjad explained.

Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and politics for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.