Personhood USA is at it again — misleading pro-life voters in Colorado about which candidates are pro-life. Fresh from trashing pro-life Senate candidate Cory Gardner earlier this year, the organization is once again attacking pro-life candidate Ken Buck.
Although Gardner has a 100% pro-life voting record and been a cosponsor of major pro-life legislation, Personhood USA, in March, falsely claimed Gardner is “pro-choice” on abortion.
Now, in a blog post titled “Reminding voters of Ken Buck’s betrayal of pro-lifers” the group claims Buck “renounced his support for the God-given right to life” and “will say whatever he thinks he needs to say to get elected.”
The group appears to have a grudge over Buck and Gardner deciding that the personhood amendment is no longer worthy of their support. Both Gardner and Buck previously supported two ballot efforts pushing personhood amendments. Although such amendments have little chance of banning any abortions without first changing the makeup of the Supreme Court, Gardner and Buck believe that unborn children are human persons whose lives begin at conception. But, because Colorado voters defeated the first two attempts by wide margins, they think it’s time for a new strategy and has said he won’t support efforts to push another personhood amendment this year.
Colorado rejected the amendment twice in both 2010 and 2008. The 2010 amendment lost by a 70-30 percentage point margin as Amendment 62 failed to gain a majority in any Colorado county. Colorado voters defeated Amendment 48 in 2008 by a 73-27 percentage margin with 1,605,978 voters rejecting it compared to 585,561 who were supportive. The 2010 Colorado personhood amendment received the support of more than 100,000 fewer voters than in 2008.
The two pro-life candidates are also not on board this time around because they are victims of millions of dollars of false advertising by pro-abortion groups claiming their support for the amendment makes it so they oppose birth control or contraception. Gardner is currently facing a massive onslaught of pro-abortion advertising attempting to portray him as an anti-contraception woman-hater because he once backed the amendment. Instead of supporting these two pro-life candidates, Personhood USA is joining Planned Parenthood and its allies in trashing them.
In 2010, many pro-life advocates say the personhood amendment and the backlash it caused contributed to Buck’s defeat and the election of pro-abortion Sen. Michael Bennet. Buck endorsed the amendment, but was pummeled by millions of dollars in television commercials making the false claim that he opposed birth control and contraception because of his stance on it. The Republican eventually had to withdraw his support for the amendment so his position would not be misconstrued. After he withdrew his support, personhood amendment supporters ravaged Buck and criticized him as supposedly casting aside his heartfelt pro-life views.
Now those attacks are continuing.
Pro-life advocates could lose another Senate race and Buck’s Congressional race if Personhood USA continues misleading pro-life voters. Unfortunately, Personhood USA confuses a difference of opinion on pro-life strategy with a difference of opinion on pro-life principles.
The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List endorsed Gardner when he first ran for Congress and confirmed his pro-life bonafides.
“The contrast between Cory Gardner and Betsy Markey is clear,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Cory Gardner has consistently voted to protect Life in the Colorado State House while EMILY’s List favorite Betsy Markey has voted in lock-step with the pro-abortion Obama-Pelosi administration. Unlike Betsy Markey, Cory Gardner will protect the hard-earned tax dollars of Colorado families from funding abortion. He is the better candidate for women and all Coloradans.”
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
Unlike Harry Reid and his friends who control the Senate, Cory Gardner will give the pro-life movement another vote and the potential to actually pass legislation that will stop abortions and abortion funding. At a critical time when the rest of the pro-life movement is working in unison to win control of the Senate and stop abortion, Personhood USA should stop misleading pro-lifers about our pro-life candidates.
Gardner and Buck, should he become the nominee in his Congressional race, are two pro-life candidates who deserve the support of Colorado voters. They both agree unborn children have a right to life that deserves to be protected.
