I will fight against anybody, including those in my own party, who say abortion should be a litmus test.
– Sen. Ken Salazar,
endorsing Bill Ritter for governor.
So it’s come to this. The right to privacy in a fundamental health-care decision is trivialized as a petty, narrow, political litmus test.
With women making up 58 percent of Democratic voters in the state, Salazar’s threat is a risky strategy.
“I don’t think that was necessary,” said Dottie Lamm, a Democratic pro-choice advocate for 40 years. “I think he could have made that pitch for solidarity without alienating the very people he was trying to bring in.”
Lamm has not leapt aboard the Ritter bandwagon – at least not yet.
“I’m still kind of reeling from John Hickenlooper’s decision not to run,” she said. “I’m feeling very ambivalent.”
It’s going around.
Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said Salazar’s office has encouraged her to endorse Ritter. But his unwillingness to support women’s reproductive rights still makes her uncomfortable.
“I understand where he is on this issue,” she said. “It’s not where I am.”
Judging by the storm of calls and e-mails to NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado on Wednesday, the abortion issue is not going to go away just because Salazar says that it should.
“For the 1 million women of childbearing age in Colorado, the issue of nongovernmental interference in their private, personal lives is of paramount importance,” said Kathryn Wittneben, executive director of Colorado NARAL. “Women’s reproductive rights are fundamental freedoms that cannot be lightly dismissed by political candidates for political gains.”
For the first time in 40 years, the pro-choice majority in Colorado may not be represented by a candidate for governor this year. And while Salazar may be able to browbeat pro-choice Democrats into voting for Ritter over a Republican, convincing them to contribute to the campaign will be tough.
Like the business community, the farm lobby or any other special interest group, pro-choice activists most certainly will impose a litmus test before writing any checks.
Al Yates, spokesman for Pat Stryker, said the Democratic Party benefactor was among the prominent Democrats encouraging Hickenlooper to run. Now, with him out of the race, she is weighing all the issues facing the state before she makes an endorsement.
“And her position on choice will figure in her decision,” Yates said.
One possible alternative to Ritter is state House Majority Leader Alice Madden, who said she will make a decision on the race within a week.
“Frankly, I want to know: Does Bill Ritter or Alice Madden have a better chance of beating (Republican front-runner) Bob Beauprez?” she said.
Madden, who is pro-choice, said she “would be horribly insulted to be viewed as a one-issue candidate.” But alongside strong positions on issues such as education, health care, environmental protection and economic development, she said, “I’d fight for our right to privacy in the telephone calls we make, the e-mails we send, the books we buy, the videos we rent and the medical decisions we make.”
Lisa Cowen, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, said the Denver Democrat believes that choice should not be a litmus test in any race.
“However, a majority of Coloradans believe it to be a very important issue in the gubernatorial race, especially in light of the composition of the new Supreme Court,” Cowen said.
“There is a chance that this issue could come back to the states, and then certainly our governor’s position on choice would be paramount.”
Lamm outlined the dilemma of pro-choice Democrats succinctly: “I have to think about both my passions and practicalities. We all need to talk about what we can agree on and what we can get done.”
But after fighting so long for something she considers a critically important right, she won’t go away quietly.
When it comes to choice, Lamm said, “I’m not going to just get over it.”
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
