By Anna Gauldin
In its last push before Election Day, Making Colorado Great released last month an advertisement attacking gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez on women’s rights.
The ad, entitled “For Us,” opens on a wall plastered with photographs of serious-looking women. “Two and a half million women live in Colorado,” the narrator—notably, a woman—begins. “One man wants the power to make decisions for us.”
As the pictures fall away, a stern-looking, finger-pointing Beauprez is revealed.
, a liberal group backed by the Democratic Governors Association, has released several ads against Beauprez playing with this war-on-women theme, including The group describes itself as “an independent Colorado nonprofit whose mission is to hold Bob Beauprez accountable to the people of Colorado.”
The Center for Public Integrity estimates the DGA is roughly $13.7 million on gubernatorial advertisements this year, including nearly $3 million in Colorado. Other ads from the group have focused on Beauprez’s background as a and his support of the Colorado movement in 2013.
The ad puts forth three central claims. Letap break them down below.
Claim 1: Bob Beauprez said, as governor, he’d oppose funding for Planned Parenthood, denying women access to birth control and cancer screenings.
In the , candidates were asked eight questions pertaining to issues such as abortion, cloning and stem cell research. Beauprez answered yes to all eight questions, including: “Would you oppose giving tax dollars to Planned Parenthood?”
The survey was distributed by Colorado Right to Life, a staunchly pro-life organization, in the spring of 2006. While it was sent to all Republican and Democratic candidates, the respondents were almost exclusively from the GOP.
The ad also points to this Denver Post from 2006. In the article, it clearly states:
In 2001, Planned Parenthood lost annual state funding of $381,956 when the state health department adopted new rules. Beauprez said he would not change the rule.
Beauprez has reiterated his stance on Planned Parenthood during this year’s campaign season, too. At the gubernatorial held in Colorado Springs Oct. 15, he again denounced state funding for the organization.
Both in 2006 and in 2014, Beauprez has clearly demonstrated that he does not support taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. Since does indeed offer women access to birth control and cancer screenings, opposing funding for the organization could result in women not receiving those services.
This claim receives an A. It is true and is supported by the evidence.
Claim 2: He’d eliminate funding for a program that has helped reduce teen pregnancy by 40 percent.
The program in question is run by the , which provides long-term contraception such as intrauterine devices to low-income women. In the five years since the program was implemented, teen pregnancy rates have dropped 40 percent in Colorado.
To back its claim, the ad points to this from The Post, which discusses one of the more controversial claims from the gubernatorial debate held Sept. 30. During the debate, Beauprez referred to IUDs as abortifacients, stating he opposes taxpayer funding for the devices.
During a recent with Colorado Public Radio, Beauprez also said:
“I think women ought to have the choice of whether to use birth control. I think women ought to have the choice of what type of birth control to use. I just don’t think taxpayers need to be paying for it.”
It seems safe to say, then, that Beauprez would eliminate the program’s funding if he became governor.
Of course, most of the program’s funding currently comes from private donors rather than taxpayers. As explained by :
Much of the cost of the program over the last six years, $23.6 million, was donated by a Buffett family foundation that has supported clinics around the country.
The funding, which will continue through June [of 2015], expanded clinics’ resources beyond what was available from state and federal sources, said Greta Klingler, family planning supervisor for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The donation allowed clinics to offer contraception at little or no cost. And, where needed, it increased clinic staff, space and hours.
The state family-planning program receives about $1.6 million a year in state general funds and $3.5 million a year in federal money through Title X Family Planning.
The vast majority of the program’s current funding, therefore, could not be touched by Beauprez. However, the foundation’s donation will expire next year, making the state funding more important. As governor, Beauprez could potentially shut the program down by choosing not to pursue additional funding sources.
Bob Leavy, a retired political science professor from Colorado College, said Beauprez could conceivably veto the current state funding as well.
This claim receives an A. It is true and is supported by Beauprez’s record on the issue.
Claim 3: Beauprez said he’d sign a law to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
In the same 2006 Colorado Right to Life survey cited above, Beauprez answered yes to the following question: “Would you vote for legislation that would prohibit abortion, allowing only those emergency medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of the mother?” If elected, he said he would “work to enact legislation that promotes a culture of life, from conception to natural death.”
In this 2006 with Colorado Public Radio, Beauprez said he would ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest. And, in the same 2006 Post cited above, it says:
Beauprez said he would sign a bill that outlaws abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
, too, Beauprez has said he maintains his conservative principles on the subject. As a devout Catholic, he said he opposes abortion in all cases unless the life of the mother is at risk.
This claim receives an A. It is true.
Overall, this advertisement receives an A. Many of its claims are based on material from eight years ago, but they are true nonetheless. Beauprez has maintained similar stances on many of the issues over the years.
