You may recall a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the news media’s goal is to cover abortion every day in an effort to keep it top of mind for voters going into November. Well, let me clarify, that is the case only if it promotes abortion and Prop 139.

Proponents of Prop 139 recently dropped a TV ad that flat-out lies to voters. It claims there is a ban on abortion in Arizona and Prop 139 will end that ban. False. Abortion is legal in Arizona up to 15-weeks and beyond for medical emergencies. The ad also claims women will not get treatment for miscarriages and doctors will be jailed if they help such patients unless Prop 139 passes. Not only is this dishonest, but it is also easily proven to be false. Arizona law protects miscarriage treatment and specifically excludes miscarriage care from the definition of abortion. Even Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes, as pro-abortion as she is, made this clear back in June when she wrote: “The definition of “abortion” excludes “the use of any means … to terminate an ectopic pregnancy or to remove a dead fetus.” A.R.S. § 36-2151(1) … Thus, if a fetus is no longer living, the procedure to remove it is not an “abortion,” and physicians need not determine that there is a “medical emergency” under A.R.S. § 36-2321(7) before providing the appropriate medical care.”

No matter, proponents went on 2 ½ months later to tell voters the exact opposite. But when the It Goes Too Far Campaign brought it to the news media’s attention, it was met with a collective yawn. I guess it’s not the type of abortion story they are looking for.

In a show of utter disrespect of voters, proponents feed them blatantly false claims and then refuse to back them up or answer questions, even voter questions. Proponents have refused three separate debates with the opposition campaign, and they told the Secretary of States office they will not attend the three townhalls scheduled throughout the state to answer voters’ questions about the proposition.

The Republic asked proponents about the debates and let them get away with making the false claim again by repeating that there is a ban on abortion in Arizona. The dishonesty, again, went unchallenged, and the false miscarriage care claim was ignored.

Clearly, proponents of Prop 139 believe they don’t have to answer questions, nor do they want to. They speak in vague generalities and avoid details because that’s how they lose votes. The details reveal that Prop 139:

• legalizes abortion throughout pregnancy for virtually any reason
• makes basic safety precautions for girls and women unenforceable
• eliminates the required doctor visit, leaving girls and women in the hands of unqualified providers
• eliminates a parent’s right to be involved in their minor daughter’s decision
• opens the door to forcing taxpayers to pay for someone else’s abortion
• shields sex abusers from prosecution when they force their victims to get abortions to cover their crimes

You can see why they don’t want to get into the details.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, be aware of the increasingly intense and hyperbolic news coverage of anything abortion related. A quick online search of abortion related news brings a host of frantic, out of context or just plain false claims and stories. The National Review points this out in a series of articles correcting dishonest reporting and sensational claims by abortion proponents and pro-abortion politicians and candidates.

One example is the sad story out of Georgia, where a young woman, pregnant with twins, took the abortion pill and suffered serious infection because she had no follow up care to determine that the pill was not completely effective. The babies’ remains were not expelled and the infection eventually killed the mother as well. The news media and pro-abortion activists used that to call for Prop 139 and other open-abortion laws. But the truth is, this awful story shows only how dangerous the abortion pill is, and how critical doctor oversight is when abortion is legal.

The mother’s death was unnecessary; doctors should have treated her, and in Arizona, she would have received that care because current law ensures a woman has that doctor oversight and the ultrasounds necessary to avoid such tragedies. But both the doctor and the ultrasound will be stripped from Arizona’s law if Prop 139 passes. Prop 139’s own attorney admitted to The Republic this week that the life-saving ultrasounds wouldn’t stand under Prop 139. And we know the word “doctor” or “physician” isn’t even in the amendment language.

Seth Leibsohn discussed these and the other deceptions from the pro-Prop 139 crowd with the It Goes Too Far team on his radio show earlier this week. Listen here.

This is why we have to all be engaged over the next several weeks, sharing the ugly truth about abortion and Prop 139.

Although proponents of the abortion amendment will not answer questions at townhalls, Jill Norgaard with Arizona Right to Life did show up at the one in Flagstaff last weekend and stayed for an hour answering questions and informing voters of the dangerous details in Prop 139.

The It Goes Too Far Campaign will be at Pima County Community College – Amethyst Room (CC180), 1255 N. Stone Ave., Tucson this Saturday at 11:00am to do the same. Please come out and learn about the extreme abortion amendment and ask your questions.

The final town hall is Saturday, October 5 at South Mountain Community College – Student Union Conference Center (SU100), 7050 South 24th Street, Phoenix. It starts at 11:00am.

ICYMI:

• Read here a new report on the skyrocketing increase in emergency room visits for women who took the abortion pill.
• Read here how a federal judge ordered Indiana taxpayers to pay for a convicted baby murderer’s “transition” surgery.
• Read here about an investigation into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for allegedly pressuring a group to remove age limits for gender-related surgeries.