FRANKFORT, Ky (LEX 18) — Kentucky's candidates for governor take different stances when it comes to abortion.
Democratic candidate Andy Beshear says he is pro-abortion-rights.
"I'm pro-choice and I support Roe v Wade and any bill that came to me as Governor banning that procedure, I would veto it and I would veto it immediately," said Beshear when asked about abortion in a debate leading up to the primary this past May.
Republican candidate Matt Bevin says he is anti-abortion.
"Who wouldn't want to be anything other than pro-life?" said Bevin, when talking about abortion ban legislation earlier this year. "I do not understand why we would want to celebrate the alternative."
In his latest web video titled "Bevin: A Question for Andy Beshear," which was released together with an anti-abortion radio ad today, Governor Bevin attacks Beshear for his relationship with Planned Parenthood.
The press release from the Matt Bevin Campaign says the video tackles "the issue of life and Andy Beshear's embrace of radical abortion groups including Planned Parenthood."
The video begins with Governor Bevin talking about a trial in San Francisco related to Planned Parenthood.
"There was an admission by a Planned Parenthood employee, that they specifically harvest and traffic in fetal body parts," says Bevin in the video. "This is who Planned Parenthood is. They are a barbaric organization."
However, records show that admission is linked to controversial videos that may not be exactly what they were made to look like. Reports reveal the trial involves secretive videos taken by anti-abortion activists. In the videos, it appears Planned Parenthood employees are discussing fees for fetal tissue.
When these videos made headlines across the country in 2015, a congressional committee looked into the issue. The Committee on Oversight and Reform released its findings, saying the videos were "heavily edited and deceptively manipulated."
The committee's website says "the videos include no credible evidence that Planned Parenthood profits from its fetal tissue donation program." It also includes a video containing clips the committee says were omitted from the original video. In those clips, Planned Parenthood employees reiterated that they do not profit from the fetal tissue donation program.
In response to Governor Bevin's video, Beshear/Coleman Campaign spokesperson Sam Newton says ""Matt Bevin is once again trafficking in dangerous fringe rhetoric. Andy Beshear supports Roe v. Wade, which includes reasonable restrictions, especially on late term procedures. Matt Bevin's extremist positions go too far even for the president. Bevin supports a total ban that would eliminate all options for victims of rape and incest."
LEX 18 also reached out to the Bevin Campaign. They did not respond before the story aired on television. However, since then, campaign manager Davis Paine released a statement saying "It is disappointing that Andy Beshear continues to defend the indefensible practices of the abortion lobby. Beshear is funded by abortion providers, so his embrace of their radical pro-choice agenda is no surprise. Governor Bevin will always defend the sanctity of life
