NARAL Withdraws Misleading Roberts Ad

The abortion-rights group NARAL is withdrawing a controversial television advertisement widely criticized (including by yours truly here and here). The AP reports that the group's president said "We regret that many people have misconstrued our recent advertisement about Mr. Roberts' record. Unfortunately, the debate over that advertisement has become a distraction from the serious discussion we hoped to have with the American public."

NARAL's Nancy Keenan made the statements in a letter to pro-choice Senator Arlen Specter, who had earlier called for the ad to be pulled. In his letter to NARAL, Specter called the ad "blatantly untrue and unfair," saying it "is not helpful to the pro-choice cause which I support." I strongly agree.

Keenan said the ad will be replaced with another, one which "examines Mr. Roberts' record on several points, including his advocacy for overturning Roe v. Wade, his statement questioning the right to privacy and his arguments against using a federal civil rights law to protect women and their doctors and nurses from those who use blockades and intimidation."

I said on Tuesday that I wished NARAL would withdraw the ad and replace it with something which looked at facts instead of trying to intentionally mislead. I'm glad they are taking this step, and I look forward to viewing the new advertisement when it's released.

[Update: The New York Times has more on this here. - 10:31 p.m.]