WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It's hard to ignore the sea of political ads on television and online, and they will continue to run right up until Election Day on Nov. 8.
These ads can stretch the truth and take facts out of proportion to distort the record or opinions of opponents. Contact 5 looked at an ad that is airing by a candidate for Congress in Palm Beach County.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., is running a television ad claiming her opponent wants to ban abortions nationwide and prosecute doctors who perform them and women who receive them.
WPTV looked at those claims.
In her advertisement, Frankel said Republican challenger Dan Franzese is a threat to abortion rights.
"Franzese would ban abortions nationally, forcing women who are raped, to give birth, making women and their doctors, criminals," Frankel's ad claims.
Republican challenger Dan Franzese calls those claims "100% false."
Franzese said he's written a letter to Frankel demanding she "immediately remove your ads making these false claims as well as other lies."
Franzese said he's pro-life and supports the Supreme Court's recent Roe v. Wade decision. But he said that's not the same as potentially voting in Congress to ban abortions nationwide.
"I'm a strict constitutionalist, and I believe these are the kinds of decisions that should be made at the state level, not the federal level," Franzese said.
Frankel said Franzese's support of the high court's decision opens the door to a nationwide abortion ban.
"What's happened since that decision?" Frankel asked. "Almost half the states in this country have now banned or severely restricted abortion."
Franzese said half of the states made their own choice, not the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I would vote against any kind of abortion ban or any kind of law affecting abortion," Franzese said he would do if elected to Congress.
Frankel said she has no plans to stop airing the commercial, which claims Franzese is "anti-choice."
Franzese said he's considering a lawsuit over the political advertisement. Frankel said she stands by her ads.
