CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Both Mike DeWine and Mary Taylor oppose abortion in all instances, including rape and incest, although Taylor also opposes it in the event that it would save the life of a mother.
And both DeWine and Taylor say they'd sign a "Heartbeat Bill" -- previously vetoed by Republican Gov. John Kasich over concerns it would be found unconstitutional -- which effectively would ban most abortions.
But Taylor is taking an unlikely approach in attacking DeWine in the final week before the May 8 Ohio Republican primary for governor -- she's criticizing him for not doing enough to fight abortion.
In an interview with an Akron radio station this week, Taylor said DeWine had "checked the box" by voting "pro-life" in the past, but failed at his "most important responsibility as a U.S. Senator" -- serving as a check on the federal judiciary.
She then gave way to her running mate, Nathan Estruth, who criticized DeWine for his role in the 2006 appointment of a Cincinnati federal judge who ended up, 10 years later, blocking an Ohio bill that would have pulled state funding from Planned Parenthood. That judge, former Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Michael Barrett, was confirmed unanimously.
"That is the Mike DeWine that folks need to look back on their record and understand," Estruth said in the interview on WAKR.
On Wednesday, the Taylor campaign released a campaign ad highlighting a 2006 Senate floor speech DeWine gave in support of Barrett. In a tweet promoting the new ad, Taylor said DeWine is "NOT pro-life."
@MikeDeWine championed Judge Barrett, who ultimately became the reason Planned Parenthood was not defunded in Ohio. DeWine is NOT pro-life. I am 100% pro-life without exception. Please vote for me on May 8th in the Ohio primary election. pic.twitter.com/K0wXJHEH99
-- Mary Taylor (@MaryTaylorOH) May 2, 2018
DeWine occasionally has taken moderate stances on some issues over his lengthy political career, but has been a consistent, ardent opponent of abortion. As a U.S. Senator, he co-sponsored a 2003 bill banning late-term "partial birth" abortions, and sponsored another law that recognized two victims in the event that a pregnant woman were attacked or killed. As Attorney General, DeWine pursued an investigation of Planned Parenthood to see if the group had sold fetal tissue in Ohio -- he found no evidence it did -- before announcing in 2015 that he'd found some aborted fetuses had ended up in landfills or incinerators. He's also repeatedly defended Ohio anti-abortion laws in court proceedings, including Barrett's 2016 decision.
"She's just got it completely reversed," DeWine said in a Tuesday interview with WTVN, a Columbus radio station.
But DeWine continues to face lingering grief within Ohio's grassroots anti-abortion movement over his role in getting Barrett appointed, as well as other moves he made as a member of the bipartisan "Gang of 14" that struck a compromise on other federal judicial nominees. The deal resulted in some conservative George W. Bush nominees being blocked, while paving the way for other other Bush nominees to be confirmed.
Late last week, leaders of Right to Life organizations in Cleveland and Toledo called on the statewide Ohio Right to Life to un-endorse DeWine over his role in Barrett's appointment to the bench. Many local Right to Life organizations, which operate independently from the statewide group, have banded together and endorsed Taylor, citing judicial appointments as a major factor.
"Attorney General DeWine has a mixed bag," Ed Sitter, executive director of the Greater Toledo Right to Life, told cleveland.com in an interview. "He has proven to be a solid defender of the right to life in his position as attorney general, but at the same time, he's also had a history of supporting these individuals who don't share his values and appointing them to critical positions as judges. So that's a concern we have, and it's a legitimate concern."
In his response to the Cleveland and Toledo chapters, Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis defended DeWine, as well as his group's endorsement of DeWine.
"I applaud Mike's body of work in the United States Congress, and certainly if we and Mike would have known that Judge Barrett was going to rule erroneously in favor of Planned Parenthood, no one would have supported him," Gonidakis told cleveland.com.
For his part, DeWine has called for an "en banc" review of Barrett's 2016 Planned Parenthood ruling -- or a second opinion from a larger panel of dozens of appellate judges, as opposed to the three-judge panel that ruled last month in favor of Planned Parenthood in response to a DeWine appeal. DeWine also has defended his work with the Gang of 14, which helped advance the judicial careers of future Supreme Court justices -- all Republican appointees -- Neil Gorsuch, Antonin Scalia and John Roberts.
"Look, I am the true conservative in this race because I've done things on right to life," DeWine said in the Columbus radio interview this week. "Mary hasn't done anything. The lieutenant governor hasn't done anything... I have a 100 percent pro-life record."