Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Pro-life attacks have entered Senate race

Groups call on Sen. Udall to support late-term abortion limits
A pro-life advocate holds a sign at a rally at the state Capitol on Tuesday where a small group of anti-abortion protesters and officials gathered to voice support for a federal measure that would limit late-term abortions.

DENVER – Pro-life groups Tuesday sought to turn the tables on Democrats by demanding that candidates support a federal measure that would limit abortions after five months of pregnancy.

The multistate “Summer of Life” campaign stopped in Denver, where several high-profile conservatives pushed Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall to support the so-called “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

The legislation passed the U.S. House last year but has stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate. It would limit late-term abortions with some exceptions.

Former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican who currently serves as the vice president of government affairs for the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political organization, said the measure is about protection.

“You can see the little child yawning, you can see the little child sucking its thumb, you can see the little child reacting from sound,” Musgrave said. “You think of this precious unborn child, and I think we can agree that at this point in the pregnancy, that child needs protection.”

The targets for the “Summer of Life” campaign are vulnerable Democrats, such as Udall, who is running in a tight race against Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner of Yuma.

In addition to the Susan B. Anthony List, the coalition included Students for Life of America, Family Research Council Action and Concerned Women for America. The tour will continue with stops in North Carolina and Arkansas.

Noticeably absent from the small rally were any statewide GOP candidates, including Gardner and gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. When pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood hold rallies, the crowds are usually large, and several Democratic candidates regularly appear.

Democrats were successful in 2012 painting a “war on women” waged by Republicans. They are trying similar messaging this year with an onslaught of advertising. Some Republicans have since distanced themselves from the anti-abortion movement.

Musgrave called it a “phony war on women,” and explained, “Today is a day for organizations to expose the voting record of Mark Udall.”

Supporters of the anti-abortion legislation point to national polling that found that a majority of Americans support limiting abortion after 20 weeks, and that women support the measure in higher proportions than men.

A Gallup poll found that abortion support drops sharply, to 27 percent, for second-trimester abortions, and further still, to 14 percent, for third-trimester abortions. That trend has continued since 1996.

“A woman all of a sudden feels, ‘I don’t want this anymore,’ and then ... makes it OK conscience-wise by calling it a ‘fetus.’ ... How convenient,” said Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, who spoke at the rally.

Udall’s campaign responded by calling the groups “radical.” They attacked Musgrave’s coalition for not denouncing former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., and Republican Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who both made controversial comments regarding abortion when they were U.S. Senate candidates in 2012.

Akin remarked, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Mourdock said, “I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen.”

Kristin Lynch, a Udall campaign spokeswoman, said the Susan B. Anthony List even applauded after some of the remarks.

“It’s no surprise that a group that infamously defended Todd Akin’s offensive comments on ‘legitimate rape’ is rushing to support Congressman Gardner, who wrote a bill to make abortion a felony even in cases of rape,” Lynch said.

When Gardner was a state representative in 2007, he supported a measure that would have made it a felony to perform an abortion, which would have applied to providers. There was an exception to save the life of the mother, but many argued that it would have made abortion a felony even in cases of rape and incest.

The measure included a provision clarifying that it would not have prohibited contraceptives. Gardner also has said that women should be able to buy birth-control pills without a prescription.

His position on personhood has evolved to the point where he no longer supports a state ballot initiative that would assign constitutional rights to the unborn, in essence banning abortion. But Gardner has co-sponsored the federal Life Begins at Conception Act, which has been described by some as federal personhood. His campaign was careful to point out that the legislation would not change contraception laws.

A spokesman for the congressman said Gardner supported the late-term abortion measure when it was in the U.S. House.

“Cory does not support late-term abortions – a recent poll shows that 67 percent of Coloradans believe in at least some restrictions on abortion, like late-term or sex-selection abortion,” said Gardner spokesman Alex Siciliano. “Senator Udall continues to make this election about divisive social issues rather than focus on our struggling economic recovery, improving our education system, broken health-care promises or responsible energy development.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments