Brown slams Moreno for abortion comments during Powell campaign stop

POWELL, Ohio (WCMH) -- Candidates in Ohio's race for U.S. Senate are full speed ahead on the campaign trail as Election Day draws closer.

The race is between incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is hoping to clinch his fourth term, against Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, who is looking to hold elected office for the first time.

On Friday, Brown was in Powell to tell voters why he deserves their vote. His event centered around women’s reproductive rights.

"These decisions should not be made by politicians," Brown said. "These decisions, intensely, intensely personal decisions, should be they made by women and their doctors, period. It's not a partisan issue. Over the last few weeks, we've seen Republicans and Democrats speaking out for women."

During the event, Brown slammed Moreno for comments he made last month about women being single-issue voters on abortion.

"Bernie Moreno has made it clear he thinks he knows better than Ohioans," Brown said.

Brown said women “understand the stakes of this election,” and that Moreno is pro-life with no exceptions.

In a statement, spokesperson for Moreno’s campaign Reagan McCarthy said, "Bernie has made clear that he believes abortion policy should primarily be decided by the states and that exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother must always be included. Sherrod Brown is misrepresenting Bernie's view on exceptions to scare voters because he cannot defend his own record."

Back in July -- this is what Moreno said about his stance on abortion.

"I think we can get to a place where after 15 weeks, there's just some commonsense restrictions, which is the opposite of a ban, by the way, a ban is when you don't allow something," Moreno said.

Moreno’s campaign has focused on topics like crime, the economy and the southern border. Immigration is something Brown also said is important.

"To Ohioans, it’s securing the border and to Ohioans, especially, its keeping fentanyl out of the country," Brown said.

Brown said anyone who has committed a crime should be deported. He did not provide a definitive plan for other illegal immigrants, but did take a stance.

"I don’t agree that we should do mass deportation of 10 million people. That will never work," Brown said.

Brown also pointed to his work to provide healthcare to veterans who were exposed to burn puts in Iraq and ensuing workers receive their full pensions.