By Ben Solis
Staff Writer
Posted: May 9, 2022 10:22 AM

Attorney General Dana Nessel this week shared an edited video of her 2022 election opponent, Republican attorney Matthew DePerno, which detailed what she framed as the GOP candidate's absolutist stance on abortion.

However, Mr. DePerno told Gongwer News Service that the video shared by Ms. Nessel lacks context and detailed only a short bit of the conversation he was having with would-be supporters on abortion.

The video shows Mr. DePerno at a speaking event saying that he doesn't believe there should be a viable medical exemption for abortion even if it could save the life of the mother – a stance that not even Right to Life of Michigan holds.

Neither does the 1931 abortion ban currently on the books in Michigan, which would become law again once the U.S. Supreme Court finalizes a leaked draft opinion that signaled the court has the votes to overturn Roe v. Wade. The law, if and when it should go back into effect, allows abortion if the mother's life is compromised during pregnancy.

"And (Right to Life of Michigan) then said, 'Well what about the life mother? Okay. Do you have an exemption for that?'" Mr. DePerno is shown saying on the video, apparently detailing a conversation with the organization. "I said, 'I do not.' Because there is literally no medical diagnosis that says that if the mother's life is in danger, abort the baby. The medical diagnosis is always deliver the baby in every single instance. You cannot find anywhere in the medical book, a diagnosis that says abort the baby. It doesn't exist."

Notably, the video is interspersed with news article headlines from Reuters and USA Today in which doctors and various fact checkers say that the termination of a pregnancy can be necessary to save the life of the mother in some situations.

Also notable is the fact that Right to Life of Michigan endorsed Mr. DePerno's chief GOP opponent, former House Speaker Tom Leonard, before Michigan Republican Party delegates voted to endorse Mr. DePerno at its first of two conventions in 2022.

In response, Ms. Nessel tweeted saying Mr. DePerno "cites a lack of medical evidence, but experts seem to disagree. If he wins, he will have authority to charge doctors and women in every MI county."

In another tweet, Ms. Nessel said recent polling shows her race with Mr. DePerno for attorney general is in a "virtual dead heat." This tweet also came with an ActBlue campaign donation link.

Recent polls have our race for Michigsn AG in a virtual dead heat. https://t.co/GWrM23qxUT https://t.co/tCYqT2qXvM

— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) May 5, 2022

That said, Mr. DePerno in an interview said the video lacks context and that what was provided in the video doesn't represent his view on abortion.

"It's trying to say that I do not believe in any exception to abortion for the life of the mother, and that's not true," he said. "I do. I think Right to Life, I think the (Christian) church still believes in an exception for the life of the mother, and I do as well."

When asked how what he said in the video squares up with what he told Gongwer, Mr. DePerno said the whole conversation not shown in the video focused on whether, in those emergency situations, was abortion the go-to procedure to save the mother.

He said it was his belief and through his conversations with medical practitioners that aborting the child was not the first option, nor the preferred option when the mother finds herself in medical distress. Mr. DePerno also said he has posed the question to Democrats he's spoken with, and they, too, have not been able to give him an answer aside for two situations – preeclampsia, a serious condition which usually occurs later in a pregnancy, and in the event of a car crash. Even still, Mr. DePerno said it was his understanding that the preferred route is to try and deliver the baby.

A message seeking comment from Ms. Nessel on whether she believed there should be any restriction on abortion was not returned at the time of publication.