Colorado's Republican nominee for governor says he is “not going to interfere” with the way women live their lives, including when it comes to the decision to kill unborn children.
In an interview with Colorado Public Radio, former Congressman Bob Beauprez was asked whether he “would be committed to [his] current stated position” on abortion and birth control. According to the interviewer, that position is “that while you're personally against abortions, you won't stand in the way of people having access to them or letting women choose their preferred method of birth control?”
“That's correct,” replied Beauprez. “I respect people's opinion, women's right to that choice. I know what the law is. And my job is to enforce the law. The question of birth control has come up and let me be real clear. … I think women ought to have the choice of whether to use birth control or not. 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.”
With regards to abortion, Beauprez took a relativist approach. “I respect people's right to choose. I live my life the way I personally choose, but I'm not going to interfere with somebody else's,” he said.
“The job of a governor is less to govern the people, and more to govern the government,” he continued. “I don't want to make somebody else's decision, but I want them to have every opportunity to make their own. I don't want to run somebody else's family and make decisions for their family, their life; I want them to have the opportunity and the freedom to do that themselves. That's the kind of governor I'll be.”
According to Denver nurse Kathryn Ostrich, Beauprez's statement was disappointing.”As a nurse, I would hope that all elected officials in my state would support life from conception to natural death — most especially Republicans,” Ostrich told LifeSiteNews.
Writing for pro-abortion magazine Mother Jones, Andy Kroll was also concerned about Beauprez's statement, but from the opposite perspective. “Beauprez almost sounds like a Planned Parenthood activist,” wrote Kroll. “But his legislative record and past statements couldn't be more at odds with his seemingly pro-choice comments.”
Kroll pointed to Beauprez's 2005 support while a member of Congress for the “Right to Life Act,” which would have legally recognized the humanity of all unborn children. Additionally, during Beauprez's last gubernatorial run in 2006, he supported all of Colorado Right to Life's positions on a candidate questionnaire, and wrote that he would “work to enact legislation that promotes a culture of life, from conception to natural death.”
In a recent debate with Democratic incumbent John Hickenlooper, Beauprez said that he opposed taxpayer funding of abortion and that intrauterine devices are abortifacients. He also said that using IUDs is a “personal choice.”
A Reuters/Ispos poll released yesterday found Hickenlooper and Beauprez tied at 46 percent support with less than two weeks before Election Day.
Beauprez's campaign did not respond to a request for comment by press time.