Missouri Republican Party Airs Campaign Ad Establishing Gov. Blunt's Abortion-Rights Opposition

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 13 Jul 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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The Missouri Republican Party on Friday started airing a campaign advertisement for the state's gubernatorial race in 2008 that says Gov. Matt Blunt (R) is a "courageous leader for protecting the innocent unborn," the AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The ad also says that state Attorney General Jay Nixon, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, is "admittedly pro-abortion." It adds, "As an abortion-on-demand Democrat, Jay Nixon would follow a course that would increase the number of abortions in our state." The ad concludes, "Some issues really are a matter of life or death."

The 60-second ad noted that Blunt on Friday signed legislation into law that imposes regulations on abortion clinics and prohibits abortion providers from teaching or supplying materials for sex education courses in public schools, the AP/Post-Dispatch reports. The Republican Party on Monday said the ad is airing "on select radio stations and in specific markets." Paul Sloca, spokesperson for the party, said the ad is being aired in mid-Missouri, but he declined to comment further or disclose how much it cost.

Nixon's campaign said Blunt lacks an effective message on health care, college education costs and the economy. "That's why 16 months before the election Blunt is already resorting to dishonest attack ads that distort Jay Nixon's mainstream values on reproductive rights," Nixon campaign spokesperson Oren Shur in a written statement said. Shur declined to elaborate on Nixon's position on abortion, the AP/Post-Dispatch reports.

According to the AP/Post-Dispatch, Blunt received support from antiabortion advocates when he was elected in 2004. He since has had an "up and down relationship" with some antiabortion advocates, mainly because of his support for a state constitutional amendment, approved by state voters last year, that allows all federally funded human embryonic stem cell research to occur in Missouri, the AP/Post-Dispatch reports (Lieb, AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/9).

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