After weeks of refusing to debate Ballot Measure 2, opponents to the proposed law agreed to discuss the issue in public at the Aug. 13 Rotary International meeting in Anchorage.
Ballot Measure 2 seeks to require abortion practitioners in Alaska to notify at least one parent of a minor girl before they perform an abortion on the girl. Voters will decide the issue Aug. 24.
As the Rotary event was about to begin, however, the head of ACLU in Alaska demanded that all media be barred from the event before it started.
ACLU has partnered with Planned Parenthood in opposing Ballot Measure 2.
Initially, the press was invited to listen as both sides of the ballot measure presented their case. A representative from Alaskans For Parental Rights and a representative from Alaskans Against Government Mandates were both slated to talk during the luncheon event.
After the media was barred from the event, Alaskans for Parental Rights issued a statement Aug. 15, blasting the opposition to Ballot Measure 2 for refusing to discuss the issue in front of the press.
“The real question Alaskans … should be asking is why the ACLU and Planned Parenthood did not want the press to be there,” the statement said.
It added: “It is almost embarrassing to see them run and hide. We’ll say it again and we’ll keep saying it until election day on August 24th — Planned Parenthood, will you debate us in front of Alaskans? If you are so concerned about protecting vulnerable teens in abusive homes and about “government mandates,” why are you unwilling to discuss this issue out loud and give Alaskans an opportunity to decide for themselves?”
In a follow up interview, after the event, Rhiannon Good, campaign manager for Alaskans Against Government Mandates, told Channel 11 that her group is “always happy to talk to the press.”
When asked why the group would not debate the issue in front of the cameras, she dodged the question, saying, it was not their understanding that the press would be covering the event.
To watch the Channel 11 report, click here.
