The Record · Ohio
Bernie Moreno
OH · Republican · Senate
The short version
Bernie Moreno hurt women and families in 7 of the 8 votes we track.
What hurt women and families most
Voted for the 2025 law that cut Medicaid.
What it means for herShe's 24, works part-time in Ohio with no insurance from her job, and hopes to have a baby someday. Medicaid pays for about 4 in 10 U.S. births. Starting in 2027 in most states, she must show 80 hours of work a month. If a slow month or a lost form cuts her off, she loses coverage before she is even pregnant. Source: KFF, 2025
Voted for letting states drop Medicaid and CHIP coverage while a person's citizenship or immigration papers are checked.
What it means for herShe's 23, a U.S. citizen, and newly pregnant. She applies for Medicaid, but her birth certificate is in another state. Today her state must cover her for up to 90 days while it checks. This would have let states refuse, and cut federal money for her care if her papers were not cleared in time. Source: Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR 435.956
Voted for adding prison time for health workers to a born-alive law that already exists.
What it means for herShe's 22 weeks pregnant and just learned her baby has a fatal condition. Only 1.1% of U.S. abortions happen at 21 weeks or later. If her baby is born alive after an abortion, this bill would make her doctor send the baby to a hospital right away, even if it cannot survive, or face up to five years in prison. Source: CDC, Abortion Surveillance, 2024
Every vote we track
Hurt women and families7
- Voted yesThe 2025 law that cut MedicaidWhat it means for herShe's 24, works part-time in Ohio with no insurance from her job, and hopes to have a baby someday. Medicaid pays for about 4 in 10 U.S. births. Starting in 2027 in most states, she must show 80 hours of work a month. If a slow month or a lost form cuts her off, she loses coverage before she is even pregnant. Source: KFF, 2025
Details
Official title: Medicaid cuts / work requirementsFrom the official Senate roll call (2025–26, roll call 372): voted YEA.official roll call - Voted yesLetting states drop coverage while papers are checkedWhat it means for herShe's 23, a U.S. citizen, and newly pregnant. She applies for Medicaid, but her birth certificate is in another state. Today her state must cover her for up to 90 days while it checks. This would have let states refuse, and cut federal money for her care if her papers were not cleared in time. Source: Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR 435.956
Details
Official title: Blackburn amendment — Medicaid and CHIP bar by immigration status (motion to waive, 2025)From the official Senate roll call (2025–26, Senate vote 345): voted YEA.official roll call - Voted yesAdding prison time to an existing born-alive lawWhat it means for herShe's 22 weeks pregnant and just learned her baby has a fatal condition. Only 1.1% of U.S. abortions happen at 21 weeks or later. If her baby is born alive after an abortion, this bill would make her doctor send the baby to a hospital right away, even if it cannot survive, or face up to five years in prison. Source: CDC, Abortion Surveillance, 2024
Details
Official title: S.6 — Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (cloture on the motion to proceed)From the official Senate roll call (2025–26, Senate vote 11): voted YEA.official roll call - Voted yesPutting Susan Monarez in charge of the CDCWhat it means for herShe's 29 and pregnant with her first baby. The CDC studies why mothers die. It found that over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths from 2017 to 2019 could have been prevented. Susan Monarez ran the CDC for less than a month before she was fired. Source: CDC, 2024 (archived page)
Details
Official title: Monarez confirmation — CDC Director (2025)From the official Senate roll call (2025–26, Senate vote 445): voted YEA.official roll call - Voted yesPutting Jay Bhattacharya in charge of the NIHThe NIH is the largest public funder of medical research in the world, including studies of pregnancy and women's health.
Details
Official title: Bhattacharya confirmation — NIH Director (2025)From the official Senate roll call (2025–26, Senate vote 141): voted YEA.official roll call - Voted yesPutting Marty Makary in charge of the FDAWhat it means for herShe's 26, six weeks pregnant, and plans to use the abortion pill. In 2023, pills were used in 63% of U.S. abortions. In 2025, Marty Makary told state officials the FDA would review the pill's safety rules. He resigned in 2026. Source: Guttmacher Institute, 2024
Details
Official title: Makary confirmation — FDA Commissioner (2025)From the official Senate roll call (2025–26, Senate vote 143): voted YEA.official roll call - Voted yesPutting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of healthWhat it means for herShe's 31 and pregnant with her first baby. In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 contributed to 25% of U.S. maternal deaths. In 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the COVID vaccine for healthy pregnant women off the CDC's recommended list. Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2022
Details
Official title: Kennedy confirmation — HHS Secretary (2025)From the official Senate roll call (2025–26, Senate vote 52): voted YEA.official roll call
Shown for context, not counted1
- Voted yesTax cuts for the richest AmericansShown for context. It does not count toward the grade.
Details
Official title: Top-bracket tax cuts (TCJA 2017; 2025 reconciliation)Shown for context, not scored: voted YEA on the 2025 reconciliation bill, which carried the top-bracket tax cuts. Senate roll call 119-372.official roll call
How we count
We wrote down which bills and nominations count, and why, before we scored anyone. A vote counts as hurting women and families when it takes away care, coverage, safety or rights, and as helping when it protects them. A missed vote never counts against anyone. Money and court cases are shown, but never change the grade.