Bevin accuses Beshear of accepting ‘blood money’ from owner of abortion clinic

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin held a news conference Thursday to accuse Attorney General Andy Beshear of accepting “blood money” from the owners of Kentucky’s only abortion clinic in his campaign for governor.

Standing next to an invitation to a Beshear fundraiser, blown up on a poster board, Bevin highlighted donations to Beshear’s campaign made by Ernest Marshall, the owner of EMW women’s clinic in Louisville. Marshall and his wife donated the maximum amount to Beshear in the Democratic primary for governor and were among the hosts of Wednesday night’s fundraiser in Louisville.

Bevin implied the donations in the primary led Beshear, as attorney general, to refuse to mount a legal defense of abortion restrictions passed by the legislature in recent years. He accused Beshear of being “in collusion” with the owners of EMW.

“They are using monies they have earned from killing Kentuckians to fund a guy who’s job it is to defend the laws of this state, but refuses to do so,” Bevin said. “This is unacceptable on several levels.”

Bevin has been an ardent opponent of abortion rights during his tenure as governor and praised the legislature for being “unapologetically pro-life” during his state of the commonwealth address in 2019. The issue of abortion often plays a major role in Kentucky politics and it’s an issue Bevin has frequently used to contrast himself with Beshear, who is pro-choice.

Beshear’s campaign manager, Eric Hyers, said Bevin’s news conference was an attempt to “distract from his own incompetence” and described the governor’s remarks as “unhinged and erratic.”

“Coupled with his comments on suicides yesterday, his behavior demonstrates that he is not fit to be the governor of Kentucky,” Hyers said, referencing Bevin’s unsupported claim on a radio show Wednesday that someone commits suicide in a U.S. casino every night. “Reasonable and good people can disagree on choice — his outlandish language is dangerous and unacceptable.”

The Beshear campaign also pointed out that the Bevin campaign had blurred out the names of other people listed on the fundraiser invitation, including the group “Republicans for Beshear.”

Bevin also invoked Tim Longmeyer, Beshear’s former deputy attorney general who went to prison for accepting political bribes, saying Beshear had no standards for the money he accepts.

“Is there any money he won’t take in his effort to become governor of this state? Doesn’t seem like it,” Bevin said.

Marshall has a history of donating to politicians, including former Gov. Steve Beshear, the House Democratic Caucus Campaign Committee, state Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, and several local politicians in Louisville.

Political groups quickly jumped on Bevin’s claims after the news conference. The Susan B. Anthony list, a national anti-abortion group, said “Kentuckians deserve better” than a candidate who funds “his campaign with profits from the brutality of abortion.”

American Bridge, a Democratic group supporting Beshear, pointed at some of the donations Bevin’s campaign has received, including one from a real estate investor named Leo Wells who once gave a speech titled “Why I love this recession.”

“Leave it to Crooked Matt Bevin to raise money from a millionaire investor who cheered on the economic crisis that devastated millions of people,” said American Bridge spokesperson Zach Hudson. “Unfortunately, we shouldn’t be surprised that an out-of-touch millionaire governor who insults his constituents on a daily basis would accept thousands of dollars from an out-of-touch millionaire investor who calls those constituents ‘idiots.’”

Bevin blasted Beshear for refusing to defend anti-abortion bills passed by the legislature, saying Beshear was neglecting his duty. Beshear’s office has declined to defend some of those laws, saying they violate the U.S. Constitution as it has repeatedly been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court.

For example, Beshear warned the legislature’s top two leaders in January that he thought a bill that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected is unconstitutional. Lawmakers approved the bill anyway and the ACLU has challenged it in federal court.

In another case brought by EMW and the ACLU, Beshear’s office was named as a defendant in their legal challenge of a law that required doctors to perform an ultrasound on women and describe the results to them before performing an abortion. Beshear’s office, though, made the legal argument that it should not be a party in the case because it is not responsible for enforcement of the law.

“This is a state where we value the sanctity of human life,” Bevin said. “It is the job of the attorney general to defend those laws, whether it’s the heartbeat law, the dismemberment law, the eugenics, whatever they are, you know what bills they are.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2019 at 10:53 AM.