For the third time in as many days, the conservative group Project Veritas has published an undercover video of a Utah Republican congressional candidate. This time it’s Becky Edwards, who is challenging Mike Lee for the U.S. Senate nomination, in the group’s crosshairs.
In the brief video, Edwards responds to a question about abortion by saying she is the “only candidate who has even said anything other than a joyful, happy, yea answer to prayer.”
“So, you’re going to stand up?” the unidentified person asks.
“I’m going to stand up,” Edwards replies.
“For abortion?” the Project Veritas volunteer responds, pushing her to comment on abortion.
“I’m going to stand up,” Edwards said again.
At no time in the clip does Edwards say she is pro-abortion.
Later in the clip, Edwards says she’s “deeply concerned” about Utah’s “trigger law” that would ban nearly all abortions in the state if Roe v. Wade is overturned and says she does not support proposed near-total abortion bans in states like Mississippi or Texas.
The video attempts to paint Edwards as pro-abortion, which is not true.
“I believe in the sanctity of life,” Edwards said during a May meeting with The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board.
“In my years of serving as a social worker, I never once ever had anyone come to me and say they loved abortion, that they thought it was a great idea. Never. I genuinely believe no on things this is the ideal. No one is thinking this is a perfect solution to a horrific problem,” Edwards continued.
In May, following the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Edwards said the issue would be a states’ rights issue.
“At that point, both voters and representatives need to work together to ensure that this complex issue is handled with dignity, compassion and care. I respect the law of the land and the decisions handed down by the Supreme Court,” Edwards said.
During the only pre-primary debate, Edwards said she did not see a need to revisit the Roe v. Wade decision, but if it were overturned, she would support individual states’ decisions on access to abortion.
Earlier this week, Project Veritas released undercover video of a staffer on Rep. John Curtis’ campaign who said Curtis had misgivings about Utah’s abortion trigger law and that he tends to “stay quiet” about his views.
Edwards and Ally Isom are challenging Lee in next week’s Republican U.S. Senate primary. The winner will take on independent candidate Evan McMullin in November’s election.
A spokesperson for Project Veritas said they would not be releasing any additional video of Edwards.
Edwards’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
