Zappala Rebukes Shapiro Over "False" Ad, While Local Supporters Ask For It To Be Withdrawn

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Supporters of Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala called on Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro to pull a controversial TV ad that, they say, lies about the facts and record of Zappala.

"As women who know the community very well, all of us are calling on Shapiro to pull that commercial," said Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner at a press conference on Wednesday, "because it's not just an affront to Steve's record but to every woman in this community that they are trying to use as pawns by putting out absolutely false information."

Wagner was joined by other women, including former Allegheny County Councilwoman Amanda Green Hawkins.

"In the eight years I served, I saw nothing that is described or implied about Steve Zappala in that commercial," she said.

The Shapiro ad suggests that Zappala is unclear about being pro-life or pro-choice.

Untrue, said Zappala at the press conference.

"I've got nothing to hide about my position on a woman's right to choose. That's the law of this nation, and as far as I am concerned, I'm not going to tell a woman what to do with her body. That's been my position from the beginning to the end," the D.A. said.

The ad contains this accusation: "Zappala is the one who jailed a woman who had a miscarriage, and then charged her with concealing the death of a child."

Zappala accused Shapiro of distorting what really happened.

"Pittsburgh Police responded to a house in Bloomfield," said Zappala. "There was a baby in a freezer and the baby was in a box. They didn't know what to do exactly, so they charged abuse of corpse. And they didn't know if it was a homicide, so what they did was call homicide who immediately calls us.

"So when they called us, we asked about the interview between the woman who was living there and the police officers, and what they said was that she had been disowned by her family, she lost her job, she was a single mom, and she had panicked when she had had the child," said Zappala.

Instead of jailing her, Zappala said he was concerned that the woman was suicidal.

"She was immediately placed into a mental health pod which is equivalent to civil confinement in Western Psychiatric Hospital, and from that point on, she was cared for by medical professionals," noted Zappala.

Ultimately, she was released for medical counseling and her attorney sent Zappala a letter saying the woman's family was elated.

"Our only concern was to help her," said Zappala.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

The Shapiro campaign in Philadelphia told KDKA that the real tragedy was keeping the woman locked up for a week without cause, and then "dragging her through the legal system for seven months."

They are not going to pull the ad, which is only running in Pittsburgh.