Paul Zeltwanger (born March 28, 1966) is an American accountant and politician serving as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. from the 54th district. Zeltwanger succeeded

Peter Beck Peter Joseph Beck is a New Zealand entrepreneur and founder of Rocket Lab, an aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider. Before founding the company, Beck worked in various occupations and built rocket-powered contraptions. Early lif ...

, who was facing dozens of felony charges. 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. He is also a

certified public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

Career

Abortion rights

In 2019, Zeltwanger co-sponsored legislation that would ban

abortion in Ohio Abortion in Ohio is legal in some cases. A person who intends to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman shall determine whether the fetus has a detectable heartbeat. A fetal heartbeat can be detected by a medical professional in as few ...

and criminalize what they called "abortion murder". Doctors who performed abortions in cases of

ectopic pregnancy Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these symptoms. ...

and other life-threatening conditions would be exempt from prosecution only if they "

ook Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to: * Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec * On-off keying, in radio technology * Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska * Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck * Ook, th ...

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".Ohio bill would make doctors 'reimplant' ectopic pregnancies (which is impossible) or face 'abortion murder' charges
National Post, November 29, 2019 Reimplantation of an ectopic pregnancy is not a recognized or medically feasible procedure.

COVID-19 and impeachment

In August 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, he joined John Becker,

Candice Keller Candice Keller (born ) is an American politician and former state representative for the 53rd District of the Ohio House of Representatives, which includes part of Butler County. A Republican, Keller is known for her far-right views.

, and

Nino Vitale A. Nino Vitale (born August 24, 1970) is an American politician who served in the Ohio House of Representatives from the 85th House district from 2015 to 2022. Early life Nino Vitale was born on August 24, 1970, in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated ...

in sponsoring a move to impeach against

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the O ...

, Ohio's Republican governor. The move was widely and immediately panned on both sides of the aisle and by legal scholars and commentators. Ohio Republican Party Chair

Jane Timken Jane Eileen Murphy Timken (born November 5, 1966) is an American attorney who served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party from 2017 to 2021. She was a candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio. Early life and education Timke ...

"issued a scathing condemnation of the trio of conservatives", calling the move “a baseless, feeble attempt at creating attention for themselves.” Ohio House Speaker, Republican

Bob Cupp Bob Cupp (December 27, 1939 – August 19, 2016) was an American golf course designer. He designed many golf courses worldwide and was the president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects in 2012–13. Early life Cupp was born on Decem ...

, called it an "imprudent attempt" to cause "a state constitutional crisis". 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.' CNN's

Chris Cillizza Christopher Michael Cillizza (; born February 20, 1976) is an American political commentator, who worked for the television news channel CNN from 2017-2022. Prior to joining CNN, he wrote for ''The Fix'', the daily political blog of ''The Washing ...

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. DeWine responded by recommending his foes visit a hospital and talk to nurses.

References

External links

Representative Paul Zeltwanger (official site)Official campaign site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeltwanger, Paul 1966 births Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives American accountants Living people 21st-century American politicians People from Mason, Ohio Grace College alumni Kelley School of Business alumni