Politics

 The Ohio Senate's Republican leader says he's asking a group of state lawmakers to review legal questions related to a bill that would ban abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

President Tom Niehaus said Tuesday he wants the group to vet any legal issues and report back to him in November.

The measure called the "heartbeat bill" passed the Ohio House in June, but has stalled in the Senate.

Ohio Right to Life has taken issue with the bill, fearing a legal challenge could jeopardize other abortion limits in Ohio and expand access to legal abortions.

Emily McCord speaks to Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles for this week’s PoliticsOhio. Ingles reported this week on the latest efforts to put the newly adopted election reform law on the ballot. She says Ohio voters should not expect any changes next week from the year before. Ingles give updates on the poll numbers this week for President Obama in the state and touches on discussion regarding redistricting. 

The Ohio Democratic party is going to the Ohio Supreme Court over the recent congressional redistricting map approved by majority Republican lawmakers and signed into law by Governor Kasich. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles has details.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio Democrats have followed through on threats to sue over a last-minute legislative maneuver by Republicans intended to shield Ohio's new congressional map from a ballot challenge.

In a lawsuit filed with the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party asks justices to weigh in on whether lawmakers acted legally when they added an appropriation to the redistricting bill as it neared approval last week. Such a monetary component makes a bill immune from repeal under Ohio's Constitution.

The Ohio Apportionment Board has approved maps for state house and senate districts for the next decade. The lone Democrat on the board, House Minority Leader Armond Budish, says the maps are skewed to greatly favor Republicans and he says Democrats and the public were left out of the process.

"As part of what seems to be the common thread all year, the majority map was crafted under a shroud of secrecy with no public input and no input from the minority party," says Budish.