Paul Zeltwanger
 | This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. (May 2022) |
Paul Zeltwanger | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 54th district | |
| In office January 5, 2015 – December 31, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Beck |
| Succeeded by | Adam Mathews (redistricting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 28, 1966 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence(s) | Mason, Ohio, U.S. |
| Education | Grace College & Seminary (BS) Indiana University (MBA) |
Paul Zeltwanger (born March 28, 1966) is an American accountant and politician who was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 54th district. Zeltwanger succeeded Peter Beck, who was facing dozens of felony charges.[1] He won the primary with 51% of the vote, and won the general election with 72% of the vote. Zeltwanger works as a real-estate developer.[2] He is also a certified public accountant.
He retired due to term limits in 2022.[3]
Career
[edit]Abortion rights
[edit]In 2019, Zeltwanger co-sponsored legislation that would ban abortion in Ohio and criminalize what they[who?] called "abortion murder". Doctors who performed abortions in cases of ectopic pregnancy and other life-threatening conditions would be exempt from prosecution only if they "[took] all possible steps to preserve the life of the unborn child, while preserving the life of the woman. Such steps include, if applicable, attempting to reimplant an ectopic pregnancy into the woman's uterus".[4][5][6] Reimplantation of an ectopic pregnancy is not a recognized or medically feasible procedure.[4][7]
COVID-19 and impeachment
[edit]In August 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, he joined John Becker, Candice Keller, and Nino Vitale in sponsoring a move to impeach against Mike DeWine, Ohio's Republican governor.[8] The move was widely and immediately panned on both sides of the aisle and by legal scholars and commentators.[9][8][10][11] Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken "issued a scathing condemnation of the trio of conservatives",[12] calling the move “a baseless, feeble attempt at creating attention for themselves.”[8] Ohio House Speaker, Republican Bob Cupp, called it an "imprudent attempt" to cause "a state constitutional crisis".[13] Legal scholar Jonathan Entin said the proposal "means that we’ve distorted our understanding both of what impeachment is supposed to do and how people – especially, elected officials – are supposed to disagree with each other. Do we really want to say that the government can’t act in an emergency because the officials are afraid that if they do anything, they’ll be removed from office? Of course, if they don’t do anything, maybe the response is going to be ‘Well you should be impeached for not acting.'"[10] CNN's Chris Cillizza analyzed it as one of several examples of how Donald Trump had politicized public health matters to the point Republican lawmakers felt they needed to make extreme and pointless moves in order to satisfy the base.[11] DeWine responded by recommending his foes visit a hospital and talk to nurses.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "GOP sweeps Butler County's statehouse races". Journal News. Butler County. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
- ^ "Beck won't resign despite GOP rejection". Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati. 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
- ^ "Paul Zeltwanger". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ a b Glenza, Jessica (November 29, 2019). "Ohio bill orders doctors to 'reimplant ectopic pregnancy' or face 'abortion murder' charges". The Guardian. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
- ^ Ohio bill would make doctors 'reimplant' ectopic pregnancies (which is impossible) or face 'abortion murder' charges, National Post, November 29, 2019
- ^ "House Bill 413 | The Ohio Legislature". www.legislature.ohio.gov.
- ^ Rezac, Mary. "Pro-life doctors: Despite Ohio bill, there is no procedure to save ectopic pregnancies". Catholic News Agency.
- ^ a b c Pelzer, Jeremy; clevel; .com (2020-08-24). "Articles of impeachment drawn up against Gov. Mike DeWine over coronavirus orders". cleveland. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ "Articles of impeachment drawn up against Gov. Mike DeWine over coronavirus orders". Cleveland. Cleveland. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ^ a b Pelzer, Jeremy; clevel; .com (2020-08-24). "The move to impeach Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: A necessary step, or a blow to democracy?". cleveland. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ a b Cillizza, Chris (26 August 2020). "Some Ohio Republicans are trying to impeach the state's GOP governor over coronavirus". CNN. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
- ^ Gstalter, Morgan (2020-08-25). "Ohio Republicans draft articles of impeachment against GOP governor over coronavirus orders". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
- ^ Balmert, Jessie. "Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp opposes GOP-led effort to impeach Gov. Mike DeWine". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ "Editorial: Governor needs ability to act quickly". The Lima News. 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2020-12-11.