Thursday, Arizona Right to Life's Shane Wikfors noted (click here) along with prolifeblogs the obvious bias presented in the Arizona Republic over coverage of an extreme pro-death group spearheaded by "End of Life Choices" and Representative Linda Lopez. Last Friday he pointed out another puff piece by reporter Casey Newton who is obviously in love with the pro-death folks down at the capitol. Actually, it appears that Newton and Lopez have teamed up in an attempt to get a hearing in the Arizona House Health Committee.
Shane writes,
The chairman of the Health Committee, Doug Quelland, a solid pro-life legislator and friend of mine will not allow the bill to get a hearing because it would be a huge waste of legislators' time - the bill does not have a majority of votes to pass at the committee level.Please feel free to contact Shane Wikfors if you receive any responses from the Republic.The other reason why Representative Doug Quelland won't give it a hearing is because the "End of Life Choices" will turn the committee hearing into a carnival. Imagine a few dozen grumpy, I-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks senior citizens packing the hearing room. In the past, these folks have heckled the committee members and those testifying before the committee. I remember very clearly one time how they ridiculed our chairman, Dr. Gerster, as she spoke about the dangers of the legislation. They actually called her names and showed absolutely no respect to anyone present.
Then there's John Abraham, Executive Director of Arizona's "End of Life Choices." In 2002, Abraham was allowed to testify in favor of the bill primarily because the committee was chaired by a pro-abortion Republican. During his testimony, he pulled a stunt that should have been immediately addressed by capitol security. Abraham's cell phone rang in the middle of his testimony. He answered it. He proceeded to have a conversation and informed the committee that God was on the phone. It became a question and answer exchange over the phone with "God" as the committee, stunned, looked and listened on. Every protocol was broken and the committee chairman, Deb Gullet, did nothing to stop it. She obviously lost control of her committee or she knew about it in advance. At the end of the phone conversation between Abraham and "God," he hung up and informed the committee that "she" recommended that the committee pass the bill. Fortunately, the committee only allowed a hearing and no vote was taken.
John Abraham and his minion of shills had managed to make a mockery of the committee and our political process. This group has no respect for the political process and you now know why they will never get a hearing as long as good people and respect-life legislators control the process.
Back to my point. Newton and Lopez know this and hope to move the bill forward by trying to build support via the media. It's up to organizations like Arizona Right to Life to stop this facade and expose the truth.
I'd like to engage you to help me by doing two things:
1) Call Casey Newton at (602) 444-8155 or email him at casey.newton@arizonarepublic.com. Demand of him that the right to life perspective be given equal amount of print. The Arizona Republic should provide fair and balanced coverage of this issue and it has violated journalistic standards by running two stories promoting the right to die over the last week.
2) Contact Representative Doug Quelland at (602) 926-4639 or via email at dquelland@azleg.gov and thank him for not allowing this deadly bill to be heard. Also remind him to not allow the "End of Life Choices" extremists to turn the political process into a mockery.
From our prior article:
Well, the MSM managed to make very little of 100,000 people in DC, so it's no surprise that they'll ignore a couple thousand in Arizona. They ignore anybody who doesn't agree with them.