The Senator Who Proposed Ohio’s ‘Heartbeat Bill’ Was Accused of Domestic Violence

The man who proposed Ohio’s controversial bill banning abortion after a heartbeat is detected was accused of domestic violence in 2011.

State Sen. Kris Jordan, a Republican, introduced the bill, which passed the Ohio state legislature earlier this week. “This is just flat out the right thing to do,” Jordan said about the proposal, according to the Columbus Dispatch. “It affords the most important liberty of all – the opportunity to live.”

In 2011, Jordan’s wife, Melissa, accused him of domestic violence and called the police after a fight at their house, according to a Dispatch story from 2011. Jordan, who was never charged for the incident, told officers that the argument was centered on a dispute over cleaning their house, and told officers upon their arrival that he worked for the state legislature “until she gets me thrown out of office,” per the Dispatch. He said that he never hit her and that his wife was just being emotional.

Read More: Why Some Anti-Abortion Activists Don’t Support So-Called ‘Heartbeat Bills’

“She got a little upset,” Jordan told a police officer, according to the Dispatch. “Girls do that.”

His wife told police at the time that her husband pushed her around and threw things during the argument, the Dispatch said. She said that there had been other incidents over two years, most of which had happened after her husband had been drinking. She also told police that the state senator kept up to 15 unloaded guns in their house.

“This is not new,” she told officers, according to the Dispatch. “He’s done this numerous times, and I just got sick of it and I just had to call.”

According to the Dispatch, there was enough probable cause to charge Jordan with a crime, but Melissa Jordan didn’t want to press charges. According to Jordan’s official biography posted on the Ohio state legislature’s website, he and Melissa are still married.

[H/T Huffington Post]