Ohio Senate leader says Romney loss sunk 'heartbeat' abortion bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Senate's leader says Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's defeat was a key factor in his decision to block stringent abortion restrictions from taking effect in the battleground state.

GOP Senate President Tom Niehaus told reporters Thursday that a Romney victory was a condition he had set with proponents for advancing the so-called "heartbeat bill."

Niehaus announced earlier this week that he would not schedule a vote on the bill, and inoculated his decision against a planned legislative maneuver by its backers with a procedural move Thursday.

Niehaus said a Romney win would have increased the likelihood of a U.S. Supreme Court lineup favorable to a likely legal challenge to the heartbeat measure, which would ban most abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.