Ohio’s voters are almost evenly divided on banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, a Quinnipiac Poll says, as the so-called Heartbeat Bill has passed the House and is pending a vote in the Senate after the March primary. The poll found 45 percent of Ohioans favor the Heartbeat Bill, while 46 percent oppose it, reported the
Columbus Dispatch.
“Abortion remains perhaps the most divisive issue in the nation and there is an almost even split among Ohio voters over the fetal heartbeat bill,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The bill has a partisan split, Brown said, with Republicans supporting the measure by 2-1 and Democrats opposing it by a 2-1 vote. Lower-income voters, who tend to be Democrats, support the bill, while high-income voters, who tend to be Republicans, oppose it, he said.
The poll also found Ohioans are divided on natural-gas drilling. Voters said 64 percent to 29 percent believe the economic benefits of drilling outweigh environmental concerns. However, Ohio’s voters want a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Voters were also polled on the race between Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Treasurer Josh Mandel, with the incumbent senator holding a 15-point lead in the race.
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