One of the ads says Brown voted to permit transgender biological men to compete in girl’s sports, and cites as evidence Brown’s votes on amendments to the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act and a 2024 bill funding federal departments, according to Poynter Institute’s nonpartisan PolitiFact. The amendments proposed by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, failed on party lines, PolitiFact said.
“The Senate Leadership Fund said Brown ‘voted to allow transgender biological men to compete in girls’ sports,’’’ according to PolitiFact. “Brown did not vote to allow this. He voted against two amendments to much broader spending bills that would have stripped funding from schools that allowed transgender athletes to compete in sports matching their gender identity. The amendments did not pertain to athletic eligibility. We rate the claim False.”
The second campaign ad claimed Brown “supported allowing puberty blockers and sex-change surgeries for minor children.”
The Senate Leadership Fund cited comments Brown made in an interview with a Columbus TV station where he was asked about a proposed bill banning gender-affirming care for minors, which never received a vote in the Senate.
“A child’s health care decisions are between them, their parents, their families and their doctors,” Brown said in the interview, according to PolitiFact. “Not politicians. I will never agree with anyone that wants to bring politics into the family situation with health care. Period.”
The Senate Leadership Fund also noted that Brown was among a group of nine Democratic senators who signed a letter asking President Joe Biden to take executive action ensuring access to healthcare, including gender-affirming care, for LGBTQ+ people.
“In the interview, Brown did not specifically address support for ‘puberty blockers and sex-change surgeries for minor children.’ He said only that he does not support the government intervening in personal health care decisions,” PolitiFact said. “In 2023, Brown signed a letter urging the Biden administration to broadly protect access to gender-affirming care. Gender affirming care is any kind of health care that prioritizes support for a person’s gender identity. It is not limited to surgery and puberty blockers; and surgery is rare among minors. We rate the claim Mostly False.”
Torunn Sinclair, spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund, responded to this news outlet’s questions about the PolitiFact ratings. Sinclair pointed to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece disagreeing with the ratings and to positive statements the group GLADD has made about Brown’s support of LGBTQ+ rights.
Brown’s campaign also responded.
“Independent fact checkers have already found these claims to be false, but Bernie Moreno and his special interest allies continue to lie about Sherrod’s record to distract Ohioans from the fact that Moreno only looks out for himself,” according to a statement released to this news outlet by Matt Keyes, spokesman for Brown’s campaign.
Moreno’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
PolitiFact had earlier rated as “false” a Moreno political ad that claimed Brown voted to “give illegals taxpayer-funded stimulus checks, health care, even Social Security.” Brown’s campaign denied Moreno’s claims.
Moreno garnered PolitiFact’s “Pants on Fire” false rating for a September 9 Instagram post where Moreno said, “Kamala Harris and Sherrod Brown are responsible for flooding Springfield, Ohio with thousands of illegal Haitians who are sucking up social services and even reportedly killing and eating pets.”
The Sept. 18 fact check by PolitiFact said that Springfield officials and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine have said the rumor about pets is untrue, that many of the Haitians are here legally and Brown had nothing to do with President Joe Biden’s executive actions on immigration.
PolitiFact also looked at a statement Brown made about Moreno’s support of an abortion ban.
“Now, he’s arguing for a national abortion ban, no exceptions,” Brown said about Moreno in a September TV interview, according to PolitiFact.
Brown’s campaign cited 2021 and 2022 statements Moreno made saying he was “100% pro-life with no exceptions” and Moreno’s statements that he supported a national abortion ban.
Moreno opposed Ohio’s reproductive rights constitutional amendment and said at a January 22 primary candidate debate that he supports a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks. His campaign now says he supports exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s life, and he believes abortion law should be left to the states.
“Brown was correct to say that Moreno has argued for a national limit on abortion, but he was wrong when he said Moreno’s position includes ‘no exceptions,’” PolitiFact said. “The statement contains some truth but it omits key details. We rate it Half True.”
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