A pro-choice group began running ads today with Eastside newspapers criticizing King County executive candidate Susan Hutchison for not being supportive of women's rights to abortion.

NARAL Pro-Choice Washington has spent $12,000 on the ads, which appear in publications such as the Bellevue Reporter. "Susan Hutchison says a woman's right to choose has nothing to do with county government," the ads say. The county funds nine health clinics that provide family planning services for women, the ads note, adding "We can't trust Susan Hutchison to protect these patients."

The ads are based on Hutchison's refusal to fill out NARAL's candidate questionnaire and her insistence that abortion is not a relevant issue in the executive's race.

Hutchison calls the attack a red herring. She said she has "no intention to ever shut down clinics" and she "will not change policies of the county health department."

She also said she trusts the medical professionals at the clinics to do what's best for patients and she "would not intervene" in their work.