The Colorado Right to Life Blog

June 2016 Pro-Life Candidates (Pre-Primary with regular updates)

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 19:56:00 +0000

Updated as of 6/26/2016. This post will continue to be updated all the way up to the June 28 primary date -- keep checking back. This list only includes Colorado legislative, congressional and US Senate candidates.

1) The 2016 Colorado Right to Life survey queries candidates on 7 pro-life issues, establishing their positions through specific language with no weasel-room.

2) Many candidates say they’re “pro-life” but mean something very different than what true pro-lifers mean. Please keep this in mind before supporting candidates who do not respond to the CRTL Questionnaire.

3) No candidate who supports abortion for any reason is "pro-life.” Regardless of what they may say, any truly pro-life citizen/candidate believes that government has an obligation to protect all human life from conception forward, and therefore pledge to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors) – every innocent human being has an inalienable Right to Life at every age or stage of development.

Candidates for US Senate

Darryl Glenn (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

Robert Blaha (R) says he's "100% pro-life" - he has said he opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest (he says he would make an exception for the life of the mother, but CRTL holds that unless the doctor intentionally tries to kill the baby, medical intervention to save the life of the mother is not an abortion). He has not responded to the CRTL survey - please ask him to, in order to establish clearly where he stands.

Jon Keyser (R) also claims to be pro-life but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Keyser told radio host Craig Silverman that he supports abortion in cases of rape or incest. CRTL considers him pro-abortion (because he favors the killing of an innocent unborn child in some cases).

Jack Graham (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey but is known to be pro-abortion. Graham has said he is "personally pro-life" but "didn't think it was the government's role to decide if a woman can or cannot get an abortion" (Fort Collins Coloradoan, Feb 16, 2016). I.e. if he's not willing to intervene on behalf of the children, he is essentially pro-abortion. He has linked from his website to a Pueblo Chieftain article calling him a "pro-choice Republican" (Apr 8, 2016) which is a guaranteed sign that he accepts that characterization.

Ryan Frazier (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. has been willing to let people believe he is "pro-life" while in reality Frazier has stated it's "not government's role" to protect unborn children. He may have changed his opinion, but we have no reason to believe that, and we're not sure how far we could trust his opinion. It would help if he were willing to go on the record by answering the CRTL survey.

Jerry Eller (R) is a write-in candidate (you must write in "Jerry Eller") who is pledged to be 100% pro-life.

Candidates for US Congress (House)

1st Congressional District

Casper Stockham (R) has pro-life statements on his website. He has not yet responded to the survey.

Both Democrat opponents are pro-abortion.

2nd Congressional District

Nicholas Morse (R) has not yet responded to the survey.

3rd Congressional District

Cong. Scott Tipton (R) claims to be pro-life but has never responded to a CRTL survey and cannot be pinned down on specific positions. CRTL considers him unengaged and effectively pro-abortion.

Alex Beinstein (R) may be pro-life but our attempts to contact him have not been successful. If you know him, please have him contact us.

4th Congressional District

Ken Buck (R) has changed his position on Personhood after reflection. After publicly rejecting the position in 2010, he now supports Personhood publicly. He has made statements to this effect. He has not responded to the CRTL survey, but he is a cosponsor of the federal Life at Conception Act.

5th Congressional District (Updated 6/10)

Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. He has consistently maintained a pro-Personhood record in public statements and in his career in Congress, even co-sponsoring federal Personhood legislation (the Life at Conception Act).

Calandra Vargas (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. Her website says she will "protect life at all stages".

6th Congressional District

Cong. Mike Coffman (R) is no longer considered pro-life. Like Sen. Cory Gardner, he has steadily “marched left” since entering Congress and has rejected the Personhood standard.

7th Congressional District

George Athanasopoulos (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. His website uses the "avoid all mention of social issues" approach commonly used in this swing district, and there doesn't appear to be any information online suggesting his position on abortion one way or another. Please ask him to respond to the CRTL survey.

Candidates for State Senate

State Senate District 4 (Updated 6/26)

Jess Loban (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to responses to the CRTL survey. He also has a clear position statement on his website expressing a no-compromise position on abortion.

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Jess Loban using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here.

Benjamin Lyng (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has a pro-life statement on his website. Without further clarification it's impossible to tell if he qualifies for CRTL's "pro-life" designation. Please ask him to respond to our survey.

James Smallwood (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. He has a statement on his website against abortion, but it's vague enough that it could mean merely "finding alternatives to abortion" and not legislating against abortion. This would not qualify as pro-life, but we hope he'll respond to the survey soon to clarify his position.

State Senate District 8

Sen. Randy Baumgardner (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has previously affirmed via survey he is 100% pro-life. We'll wait until he responds to this year's survey to re-confirm that.

State Senate District 10

Sen. Owen Hill (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has previously affirmed via survey he is 100% pro-life. We'll wait until he responds to this year's survey to re-confirm that.

State Senate District 12 (Updated 6/26)

Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to his responses to the CRTL survey. He has also been a stand-out legislator on pro-life issues since his 2014 election, and has proved his understanding of pro-life issues in depth. Klingenschmitt has voted twice for the Life At Conception bill (the one which his primary opponent voted against).

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Gordon Klingenschmitt using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here.

Fmr. Rep. Bob Gardner (R) is claiming he is pro-life, but CRTL strongly disagrees. We consider him pro-abortion. He was one of 2 Republican legislators who voted with the Democrats in 2014 to kill a Life At Conception bill that was very close to Personhood legislation. He also supported emergency contraception (abortifacients) in a previous vote. He has never been considered a strong pro-lifer, no matter what he claims, even if he may have cast some votes for pro-life legislation.

State Senate District 14

CRTL has not heard from any candidates for this office. Rep. John Kefalas formerly lobbied for the Catholic Charities, but he has a pro-abortion voting record. The Republican is Hans Hochheimer. Please ask him to respond to CRTL's survey.

State Senate District 17

There are no pro-life candidates for this office (yet).

State Senate District 18

CRTL has not heard from any candidates for this office. Peter Spraitz is the Republican candidate. Please ask him to return his survey.

State Senate District 19 (Updated 6/23)

Sen. Laura Woods (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 21

William Ingram (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey. In fact, he is a pro-life pastor with solid opinions on the issue. NOTE: Ingram is a WRITE IN candidate and to vote for him you must fill in the circle next to the "write in" line, and write in "William Ingram" on the line provided for write in candidates.

State Senate District 23

Sen. Vicki Marble (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has previously affirmed via survey she is 100% pro-life. We'll wait until she responds to this year's survey to re-confirm that.

State Senate District 25

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. He has a pro-life statement without detail on his website.

State Senate District 26

Nancy Doty (R) is believed to be pro-life, and has made pro-life statements in the past. Please ask her to respond to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 27

Sen. Jack Tate (R) is believed to be pro-life. Please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

State Senate District 28 (Updated 6/19)

James Woodley (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 29

CRTL has not heard from Sebastian Chunn (R). If you know him please ask him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 31

Jeffery Washington (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

Rob Lane (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 33

No candidate has thus far responded to the CRTL survey. Raymon Doane is the Republican candidate, but we have no information on him so must assume he is not pro-life. If you have information about him, please let us know or ask him to respond to the survey.

State Senate District 35 (Updated 6/19)

Larry Crowder (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

Candidates for State House

State House Districts 1-13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed all of these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

State House District 14

Rep. Dan Nordberg (R) is believed to be pro-life, even though he has never responded to a CRTL survey.

State House District 15

Dave Williams (R) has not yet responded to the 2016 CRTL survey, but in 2014 he did affirm he is pro-life via that year's survey. We have no reason to believe he has changed, but we'll wait for a new survey to confirm.

State House District 16 (Updated 6/26)

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey, but he is pro-life and has worked closely with CRTL on fetal homicide legislation for several years. This working relationship is important to us, and demonstrates his commitment to doing the right thing.

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Janak Joshi using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here.

Fmr. Rep. Larry Liston (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and has pledged in his answers to our survey that he will be pro-life. However, in the past he has had a mixed record on life issues, having been one of only a handful of Republicans to answer Planned Parenthood surveys in recent years, and there having told them he wouldn't oppose their funding. We also have mixed information on whether he supports Personhood. This year he has pledged to support Personhood and all other pro-life positions. We hope that he is sincere, and is fully on board, but CRTL must also consider past records when available.

State House District 17

Rep. Kit Roupe (R) has generally been considered pro-abortion. If there has been any movement or reconsideration of her positions, please inform us and encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 18

Sonya Rose (R) is believed to be pro-life.

State House District 19

Rep. Paul Lundeen (R) is likely pro-life, but we have no surveys, statements or votes on which to base this opinion. Please ask him to return the CRTL survey so we can confirm and register him as pro-life.

State House District 20

Rep. Terri Carver (R) has a pro-life statement on her website, but with insufficient detail to determine her degree of commitment. Please advise us if you have information on her, and please ask her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) is pro-life, and responded as 100% pro-life in a previous survey. Please ask her to return this year's survey so we can reaffirm this rating.

There is a primary challenger to the incumbent in this district. CRTL has no information on Steve Elisha (R), or where he stands. If you have information, please advise CRTL, and please advise him to return the survey.

State House District 22

Rep. Justin Everett (R) is pro-life and has responded as 100% pro-life in past surveys. He has not responded yet this year, but please encourage him to do so.

State House District 23

CRTL has no information on Chris Hadsall (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 24

CRTL has no information on Joy Bowman (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 25

Rep. Tim Leonard (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. He is also a former board member of Colorado Right to Life.

State House District 26

CRTL has no information on Michael Cacioppo (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 27

Rep. Lang Sias (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and CRTL has been skeptical of his commitment in the past. Since coming into office mid-term, he has worked on pro-life legislation and has maintained a positive relationship with CRTL. Please encourage him to respond to the survey to affirm his positions, and so we can verify the degree of his commitment.

State House District 28

CRTL has little information on Nancy Pallozzi (R). Her website seems to advertise her as more moderate than most Republicans, but does not specifically address abortion issues. Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 29

CRTL has little information on Susan Kochevar (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 30

Rep. JoAnn Windholz (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but CRTL considers her 100% pro-life. In the wake of the shooting at Planned Parenthood she made a public statement that in no way condoned violence against the facility or workers, but which blamed Planned Parenthood for creating an atmosphere of violence through their baby-killing industry, which is of course a correct assessment. When strongly criticized, even by members of her own party, Windholz did not back down. CRTL applauds her dedication to and understanding of pro-life issues.

State House District 31

CRTL has little information on Jessica Sandgren (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 32

CRTL has little information on Alexander Jacobson (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

There is a primary between Democrat candidates, and to the best of our knowledge there are no pro-life candidates. But if you have information to the contrary please advise.

State House District 33

CRTL has little information on Karen Nelson (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 34

CRTL has little information on Dustin Johnson (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 35

CRTL has little information on Emily Voss (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 36

CRTL has little information on Richard Bowman (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 37

Rep. Cole Wist is a pro-life legislator who entered this seat mid-term. Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 38

Susan Beckman (R) is believed to be pro-life, but CRTL does not have information about the degree of her commitment. Please encourage her to respond to the CRTL survey.

Michael Williams (R) is believed to be pro-life, but CRTL does not have information about the degree of his commitment. Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey but has previously indicated a pro-life position in response to a survey. Please encourage her to respond to this year's CRTL survey.

State House District 40

Spencer Wellman (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so, and advise us of what you know about the candidate.

State House District 41

Linda Jean Garrison (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

State House District 42

Mike Donald (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. He also demonstrates a strong grasp of pro-life issues.

State House District 43

Rep. Kevin Van Winkle (R) is pro-life. He has not responded to this year's CRTL survey, but indicated a 100% pro-life position in 2014. Please encourage him to return this year's survey so we can re-affirm his 100% status.

The incumbent has a challenger - Cindy (Cindra) Barnard (R). CRTL has no information on where she stands on life issues, and she has refused to respond to the CRTL survey, which is not a good indicator.

State House District 44

Rep. Kim Ransom (R) is pro-life, and though she has not responded to this year's CRTL survey, she responded and indicated a 100% pro-life position in 2014. She is a former CRTL board member. Please encourage her to return this year's survey so we can re-affirm her 100% status.

State House District 45

Rep. Patrick Neville (R) is a pro-life legislator who has affirmed a 100% pro-life position in the past. He has also worked with CRTL on legislation to protect unborn children. Please encourage him to respond to the survey so we can re-affirm his status.

State House District 46

There are not yet any pro-life candidates in this district.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) is likely pro-life, but CRTL has never received a survey response from her to confirm this. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey to demonstrate her commitment.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) is a stand-out pro-life legislator who has repeatedly run the Life At Conception Act, which is essentially a Personhood act to protect unborn children at every stage of development. He has not yet responded to this year's CRTL survey, but in the past he has affirmed a 100% pro-life position. Please encourage him to respond to this year's survey so we can re-affirm that status.

State House District 49

Rep. Perry Buck (R) is a pro-life legislator. She has never responded to a CRTL survey, but we believe her commitment is sincere. Please encourage her to return her survey.

State House District 50

John Alan Honeycutt (R) responded to the CRTL survey but was unclear in some of his responses. We believe he is sincerely pro-life, but CRTL may need to work with him on the unclear points.

State House District 51

Tom Lucero (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

Hugh McKean (R) has pro-life statements on his website, but he will need to respond to the survey to detail his commitment on specific pro-life aspects. Please encourage him to do so.

State House District 52

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 53

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 54

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 55

Rep. Dan Thurlow (R) is believed to be pro-abortion. He was unclear even on doctor-assisted suicide legislation considered in the 2016 legislative session, and seemed poised to vote for it.

State House District 56

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 57

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 58

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 59

Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) is a pro-life legislator. He has not yet responded to this year's survey, but he affirmed a 100% pro-life status in 2012. Please encourage him to return this year's survey so we can re-affirm that status.

State House District 60

Rep. Jim Wilson (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to be strongly pro-life. Please encourage him to respond to the survey to confirm this.

State House District 61

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 62

Marcy Freeburg (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

CRTL has no information on Robert Mattive (R). Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 63 (Updated 6/26)

Rep. Lori Saine (R) is likely pro-life, but has never responded to a survey or even affirmed a commitment to Personhood so CRTL can not evaluate her full commitment to pro-life positions. She has carried anti-abortion regulations, but that by itself is not sufficient for CRTL to conclude she opposes abortions in every case and at every stage of development including chemical abortions (abortifacient poisoning). Please encourage her to respond to the CRTL survey so we can evaluate her positions on these important issues.

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Lori Saine using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here.

Colleen Whitlow (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

State House District 64

Kimmi Lewis (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

Rep. Tim Dore (R) is a pro-life legislator who has affirmed a 100% pro-life position via a previous survey. Please encourage him to respond to this year's survey so we can re-affirm that position.

State House District 65

Rep. Jon Becker (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and CRTL has very little information to go on with regard to his stands. Please encourage him to respond to the survey so we can understand his position.

Please note that the above information will be updated regularly as new information becomes available between now and the June 28 primary election.

May 1 Update: US Senate Candidate Surveys

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Mon, 02 May 2016 04:48:00 +0000

In 2016, we're finally experiencing the happy result that almost every credible candidate for higher office in Colorado wants to be seen as strongly pro-life (enough so that many are willing to lie to make it sound like they're something they're not).

Colorado Right to Life regularly sends out very specific surveys to get candidates on the record as to where they really stand on important pro-life issues like Personhood. The candidates who are really pro-life generally respond favorably, and are willing to go on the record.

The many candidates who are wanting to hedge, or who try to cover up their willingness to accept abortion, usually don't respond. Colorado Right to Life reports this too, so you can judge for yourself.

Colorado's US Senate race, this year, has had a couple of surprising results:

The candidate most experts figured as the conservative front-runner, pro-life Sen. Tim Neville, didn't make the ballot after voting at the Colorado State Convention. Instead, El Paso County Commissioner and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Darryl Glenn, who is also strictly pro-life, received 70% of the votes from delegates.

The crowd of candidates who attempted to petition onto the ballot, rather than using the grass-roots caucus/assembly process, are having a shocking degree of difficulty getting on the ballot.

As a result, as of today, we have the following candidates confirmed on the ballot for the June 28 primary election:

Darryl Glenn, who has responded to the CRTL survey and has pledged to be 100% pro-life.

Jack Graham, who has not responded to the CRTL survey. Graham has said he is "personally pro-life" but "didn't think it was the government's role to decide if a woman can or cannot get an abortion" (Fort Collins Coloradoan, Feb 16, 2016). I.e. if he's not willing to intervene on behalf of the children, he is essentially pro-abortion. He has linked from his website to a Pueblo Chieftain article calling him a "pro-choice Republican" (Apr 8, 2016) which is a guaranteed sign that he accepts that characterization. Graham was also a Democrat until the past year or so.

Jon Keyser, who claims to be pro-life but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Keyser told radio host Craig Silverman that he supports abortion in cases of rape or incest, so CRTL considers him pro-abortion (because he FAVORS the killing of an innocent unborn child in some cases).

Ryan Frazier and Robert Blaha are also trying to get on the primary ballot, but they've fallen short of the required number of signatures. A judge has forced the Secretary of State to not make any firm decisions about allowing or not allowing them, which means that in the next few days they may still be allowed to be on the ballot.

As Colorado Right to Life has noted in the past, Frazier is another candidate who has been willing to let people believe he is "pro-life" while in reality Frazier believes it's "not government's role" to protect unborn children. He may have changed his opinion, but we have no reason to believe that, and we're not sure how far we could trust his opinion. It would help if he were willing to go on the record by answering the CRTL survey.

Robert Blaha also says he's pro-life, but he's more quiet about whether he will or won't support "abortion exceptions" in cases of rape or incest. He has not responded to the CRTL survey.

As you probably know, Colorado Right to Life has led the charge nationally to reject "abortion exceptions" and to promote a 100% pro-life Personhood standard (a right to life for unborn children, from conception on, no exceptions). Pro-lifers nationwide have increasingly adopted this position. Even though some may still hold a "pro-life except in cases of rape or incest" position (which was considered a standard Republican position a decade ago), a majority of pro-lifers now understand the inherent hyporcitical contradiction (is abortion murder, or isn't it?) and reject exceptions today.

This, of course, still allows a doctor to save the life of a woman in a life-threatening pregnancy by treating two patients - mother and baby - and not trying to kill either of them. If the baby dies anyway, as may happen, that's a natural death. If the doctor intentionally kills the baby (which is NEVER medically necessary) it's an abortion.

Colorado Right to Life is surveying legislative candidates, and will continue trying to reach Congressional candidates and US Senate candidates. Updates will be posted in coming weeks, in preparation for making decisions for the primary election in June.

Some quick notes on important legislative primaries:

In Senate District 12 (Colorado Springs) 100% pro-life Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt is opposed by Fmr. Rep. Bob Gardner. Though Gardner claims to be pro-life, he has not responded to the CRTL survey and CRTL has reason to categorize him as pro-abortion based on his past statements and legislative record.
In House District 16 (Colorado Springs) Colorado Right to Life believes Rep. Janak Joshi to be pro-life, whereas we believe Fmr. Rep. Larry Liston is not.

Note: One more candidate will NOT appear on the June 28 ballot for US Senate, but Jerry Eller is eligible as a write-in candidate, which means you must write his name in the write-in line of the US Senate ballot section exactly as he is registered, which we believe is "Jerry Eller". Eller has responded to the CRTL survey and has pledged to be 100% pro-life.

CO Senate District 12: Gordon Klingenschmitt vs. Bob Gardner

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 14:23:00 +0000

In the divisive primary between former Rep. Bob Gardner and Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, both candidates claim to be "pro-life." Gardner even claims to be "unflinchingly pro-life."

Colorado Right to Life wishes to set the record straight as to who's pro-life. We have never had reason to consider Bob Gardner pro-life. To the best of our knowledge, he has never supported Colorado's Personhood amendments, or a Personhood standard in legislation. We have no evidence he ever signed a petition for Personhood. We have said previously he is a RINO (Republican in Name Only) and we'll say it again.

We have confidence in Gordon Klingenschmitt to defend the sanctity of life at all stages and at all times. We have no such confidence in Bob Gardner.

In fact, Colorado Right to Life has identified several areas where the candidates differ on respect for life.

In 2013, according to Project Vote Smart, Bob Gardner was rated 50% by NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. (https://votesmart.org/candidate/65710/bob-gardner?categoryId=2&type=V,S,R,E,F,P#.VvRsvf32aUl)

In 2007 Bob Gardner voted with several mostly moderate, pro-choice Republicans in favor of legislation requiring hospitals or medical clinics to provide "emergency contraception" for rape victims. In reality, these are abortifacients -- poison pills designed to kill an already-conceived unborn child (http://coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2008/10/legislative-scorecard-2007-2008.html). This legislation had no exception for pro-life doctors who hold a personal belief that abortifacients murder an unborn child (in fact, that's the primary reason this bill was crafted - to force such pro-life medical professionals to act against their conscience!).

The 2011 "fetal homicide" bill Bob Gardner claims as proof he's pro-life was written to please NARAL and Planned Parenthood, and specified that a "human embryo, fetus, or unborn child" was NOT to be considered a person "at any stage of development prior to live birth." Why would a pro-life legislator have that language -- anti-Personhood language, denigrating to the status of unborn life -- in any bill they co-sponsor??? By contrast, Rep. Janak Joshi's fetal homicide language is 100% abortion neutral (it doesn't prohibit abortion, but also doesn't specifically defend or protect it).

Bob Gardner has never before responded to a survey from Colorado Right to Life. We take that as a strong indication that the candidate is not pro-life. By contrast, Gordon Klingenschmitt responded in 2014 and his responses confirm he is 100% pro-life.

Lastly, there is debate between sincere pro-lifers as to whether it's appropriate for the government to oversee or administrate abortion clinics in order to make sure they "abort children properly," even if there may be a positive impact upon the number of abortions performed. Rep. Klingenschmitt opposed HB15-1128 at our request because it would have effectively made the government a partner to Planned Parenthood and the abortionists in licensing abortion clinics and assuring children are killed properly. That reprehensible partnership, in our strongly held opinion, outweighed the slight benefits from further burdening the abortion clinics. CRTL has alternative legislative language which would make abortion clinics abide by medical standards and achieve the same positive effects without making abortion seem like a "well-regulated industry."

Please take these things into account when making your choice between these candidates.

Colorado Right to Life
Sponsor of Colorado's Personhood Amendments
Protecting Colorado's unborn children since 1967

Pro-Life Candidates in Colorado - Oct 2014 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 18:40:00 +0000

Updated as of 10/20/2014. This post will continue to be updated all the way up to Election Day with new information -- keep checking back if you're concerned about a specific candidate. Also if you doubt the information given below about Rep. Cory Gardner (running for Senate) not being pro-life, please see our more detailed post on the US Senate race)

Notes to readers:

1) The 2014 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 7 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on key pro-life issues. This list will be continuously updated. This list only includes Colorado legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

2) Many candidates say they’re “pro-life” but mean something very different than what true pro-lifers mean. Please keep this in mind before supporting candidates who do not respond to the CRTL Questionnaire.

3) No candidate who supports abortion for any reason is "pro-life.” Regardless of what they may say, any truly pro-life citizen/candidate believes that government has an obligation to protect all human life from conception forward, and therefore pledge to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors) – every innocent human being has an inalienable Right to Life at every age or stage of development.

4) Candidates from any party are invited to respond to the survey. However, CRTL has never been made aware of a candidate from either the Democrat Party or Libertarian Party who is truly pro-life.

5) CRTL does not endorse candidates, but rather issues a “white list” – people who we believe take their responsibility to unborn children under the law seriously. Candidates who are pro-life are listed in bold.

Ballot Initiatives

Amendment 67 is on the ballot this year. Many people think Colorado Right to Life opposes "incremental" laws and measures. That's not really true. CRTL opposes "compromised" laws and measures -- those that make it seem like not all human beings have the same value or deserve the same rights as every other innocent human being. Sadly, most incremental measures are also compromised, but Amendment 67 is not. It is a "Personhood compliant" incremental measure that may not protect all unborn children from harm by abortion, but it can at least protect unborn children who are victims of crimes also perpetrated against their mothers. Vehicular homicide, wife beating, etc. The law currently treats the baby not as a victim but as a "loss to be considered" in deciding judgment for the crime against the mother.

That's wrong. Amendment 67 would make the law treat those unborn children as human victims of violence, and would treat the murder or assault upon the child the same as against any other human being.

There is a lot of disinformation out there about what Amendment 67 would do. Most news organizations refuse to recognize any difference between Amendment 67 and other Personhood measures. The fact is, the concept of Amendment 67 -- protecting the unborn children of pregnant mothers who are victimized as victims themselves -- is widely popular, and it's also a stepping stone to teaching society the value and the need to protect all unborn children the same way.

Candidates for Governor

Fmr. Cong. Bob Beauprez (R) has not responded to the survey. He does not support abortion for any reason, to the best of our knowledge (he was the first Republican nominee for Governor in 2006 who supported no exceptions for abortion). He is on record not supporting Personhood, and is not listed in "bold" for that reason, but it appears he questions the strategy, not the goal.

Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is pro-abortion.

From statements on websites and from other information it appears that the other candidates on the ballot -- Harry Hempy (Green), Matthew Hess (Libertarian), Mike Dunafon (Unaffiliated) and Paul Noel Fiorino (Unaffiliated) are all pro-abortion.

Candidates for US Senate

There IS a pro-life candidate for US Senate running in Colorado!

However, he is not named Cory Gardner.

Raul Acosta (I) has answered the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Acosta is an independent candidate for the US Senate who has been confirmed on the November ballot, so anyone in Colorado can vote for him without having to write his name in.

Raul Acosta is the ONLY candidate for the US Senate in Colorado who opposes abortion in all cases and believes in a Right to Life for unborn children from conception on.

Raul Acosta ran as a pro-life candidate for the US Senate in 2004, and has been an ally of Colorado Right to Life for many years.

Rep. Cory Gardner was once a strong pro-lifer and ally of CRTL, but that has changed! Cong. Cory Gardner (R) (see new info here) supported Personhood for many years but recently rejected a pro-life position in order to become more palatable to moderate voters. Since entering Congress he has steadily “marched left,” turning his back on solidly conservative positions he held on many issues. He says he is “still pro-life” but rejects protections for all innocent human beings at all stages of development and won’t oppose abortifacient birth control.

(More detail on US Senate Race and why Gardner is NOT pro-life.)

Sen. Mark Udall (D) is pro-abortion.

Due to statements on their websites or other statements we believe Gaylon Kent (Libertarian), Bill Hammons (Unity), and Steve Shogan (Unaffiliated) are all pro-abortion.

1st Congressional District

From statements on websites, and other public statements, it does not appear there are any pro-life candidates for this office.

2nd Congressional District

George Leing (R) is pro-abortion.

Cong. Jared Polis (D) is pro-abortion.

3rd Congressional District

Cong. Scott Tipton (R) claims to be pro-life but has never responded to a CRTL survey and cannot be pinned down on specific positions. CRTL considers him unengaged and effectively pro-abortion.

Fmr. Sen. Abel Tapia (D) is pro-abortion.

Travis Mero (L) is assumed to be pro-abortion, as that is the position of his party.

Tisha Cassida (Unaffiliated) is pro-abortion.

4th Congressional District

Ken Buck (R) has changed his position on Personhood after reflection. After publicly rejecting the position in 2010, he now supports Personhood publicly. He has made statements to this effect, but has not responded to the CRTL survey so we cannot issue a "bold" pro-life indicator.

Vic Meyers (D) is pro-abortion.

Jess Loban (L) has not answered the CRTL survey. She indicates on her website she believes the unborn should be protected as individuals (a commendable and unusual position for a Libertarian candidate), but believes they should be protected by state law, not by federal law as an unalienable human right. This is in conflict with a full understanding of Personhood.

Grant Doherty (Unaffiliated) has not answered the survey. His position is unclear.

5th Congressional District

Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year, but has in the past and has consistently maintained a pro-Personhood record in public statements and in his career in Congress, even co-sponsoring federal Personhood legislation.

Irv Halter (D) is pro-abortion.

6th Congressional District

Cong. Mike Coffman (R) is no longer considered pro-life. Like Gardner, he has steadily “marched left” since entering Congress and made his rejection of the Personhood standard public this year.

Andrew Romanoff (D) is pro-abortion.

Gary Swing (Green) is pro-abortion.

Norm Olsen (Libertarian) is pro-abortion.

7th Congressional District

Don Ytterberg (R) calls himself pro-life but has refused to take solid positions, focusing on other issues and leaving doubt as to his real beliefs on the Right to Life. CRTL has seen this from other candidates who turned out not to be pro-life to any substantial degree. In past elections Ytterberg said both, that he supports abortion for rape and incest, and he believes abortion should not be a subject for public policy, but these responses are old and it's possible he has changed. If so, it is VERY unclear from his website and public statements. He appears to be ducking the issue entirely.

Cong. Ed Perlmutter (D) is pro-abortion.

Doug "Dayhorse" Campbell (ACP) was going to be on the ballot but we're sorry to say this pro-life stalwart passed away recently.

State Senate Candidates

State Senate District 1

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Doug Aden (ACP) is presumed to support Personhood, as it is the official position of his party. He has not responded to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 2

Sen. Kevin Grantham (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Martin Wirth (Green) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 3

Sen. George Rivera (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Rivera is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has signed a petition to place Personhood on the ballot and has said he makes no apologies for a pro-life position.

Leroy Garcia (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 5

Don Suppes (R) is "personally pro-life" but won't legislate on the issue (which means he's officially pro-abortion).

Kerry Donovan (D) is pro-abortion.

Lee Mulcahy (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 6

Sen. Ellen Roberts (R) is regarded as the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. She is unopposed by either party.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Ray Scott (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past.

Claudette Konola (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

Sen. Kent Lambert (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed.

State Senate District 11

Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not responded to the CRTL survey. He did tell Pikes Peak Citizens for Life that he believed Personhood should begin at conception (single cell) but has since backed off on that and told the Colorado Independent that he does not support Personhood.

Rep. Mike Merrifield (D) is pro-abortion.

Norman "Paotie" Dawson (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion.
State Senate District 13

John Cooke (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Joe Perez (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 15

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed.

State Senate District 16

Fmr. Sen. Tim Neville (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Laura Woods (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed she is pro-life.

Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Larry Queen (R) has indicated that he is strongly pro-life and has said he will respond to the survey.
Sen. Cheri Jahn (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Tony Sanchez (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Sen. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 24

Beth Humenik (R) has not responded to the survey this year, and did not in previous years either. Please ask her to contact CRTL.
Judy Solano (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 30

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Bette Davis (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 32

Dawne Murray (R) has not responded to the survey. We have no solid information one way or another on her positions.
Sen. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 34

Stuart Siffring (R) is believed to be pro-abortion based on public statements.

Sen. Lucia Guzman (D) is pro-abortion.

Brian Scriber (L) is pro-abortion.

State House Candidates (Updated 10/20)

State House Districts 1 - 13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

The one exception here is District 4:

State House District 4

David Dobson (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He ran a campaign in 2012 based primarily on Personhood, and is expected to run a similar campaign in 2014.

Rep. Dan Pabon (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

Glenn Carlson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 15

Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has returned his survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. (The Christian Coalition may have falsely reported Klingenschmitt during the primary as not 100% pro-life. This information is incorrect -- Klingenschmitt supports Personhood and opposes all abortions).

Lois Fornander (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not returned his survey yet. He says he is pro-life on his site, and is believed to support Personhood but this is not confirmed. He has worked closely with CRTL for several years in drafting a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure for consideration by the legislature. He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.

Ryan Macoubrie (D) is likely to be pro-abortion, but was NOT endorsed by Planned Parenthood.

State House District 17

Both Catherine “Kit” Roupe (R) is pro-abortion.

Rep. Tony Exum (D) is pro-abortion.

Susan Quilleash (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 18

Michael Schlierf (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 19

Paul Lundeen (R) has not returned his survey yet. He is running unopposed.

State House District 20

Terri Carver (R) has not yet responded to the survey. Her website claims she is pro-life. She is running unopposed.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) has not returned her survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past. She is running unopposed.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Mary Parker (D) is pro-abortion.

Lynn Weitzel (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Jane Barnes (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion.

Michael Beckerman (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 24

Joseph Demott (R) has not yet responded to the survey.

Jessie Danielson (D) was formerly a director for the local branch of pro-abortion NARAL (i.e. is avidly pro-abortion).

State House District 25

Jonathan Keyser (R) has not responded to the survey.

Janet Doyle (D) is pro-abortion.

Jack Woehr (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

Thom Haupt (L) claims to be personally pro-life, but his website makes it clear he is politically pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Rep. Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting.

Wade Michael Norris (D) claims to be a "theologian" (which could mean alot of things). His position on abortion is unclear. He did NOT receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood, but has worked on behalf of many pro-abortion candidates.

State House District 28

Stacia Kuhn (R) has not responded to the survey. She makes pro-life statements on her website, but the degree of her commitment is unclear. Her opponent accuses her of wanting to ban all abortions, which is a claim often bandied about, but it's rarely made so explicit if there isn't evidence of support for Personhood.

Rep. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 29

Susan Kochevar (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) is pro-abortion.

Hans Romer (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 30

JoAnn Windholz (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 31

Carol “Jody” Beckler (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 32

Edgar Antillon (R) says he is pro-life but has previously renounced Personhood. He has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Dominick Moreno (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

Marijo Tinlin (R) defeated a likely pro-abortion Republican in the primary, and Tinlin appears to be pro-life and may support Personhood. Please ask her to contact CRTL or respond to the survey to establish this for certain.

Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

Carter Reid (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 34

Alexander "Skinny" Winkler (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Mike Melvin (R) has not responded to the survey.

Faith Winter (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 36

Richard Bowman (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 37

Jack Tate (R) has not responded to the survey yet.

Nancy Cronk (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.

Robert Bowen (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.

James Huff (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, but did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

State House District 40

JulieMarie Shepherd (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion.

Geoff Hierholz (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 41

Molly Barrett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

Rep. Jovan Melton (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 42

Mike Donald (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has been very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is pro-abortion.

State House District 43

Kevin Van Winkle (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Henry Barlow (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, but did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

State House District 44

Kim Ransom (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life. She is also a former board member of Colorado Right to Life.

Karen Jae Smith (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, but did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

Lily Williams (L) has not returned the survey, and is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 45

Patrick Neville (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Brandon Wicks (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, though he did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

James Jeansonne (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 46

Brian Mater (R) has not responded to the survey.

Daneya Esgar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions.

Lucretia “Robbie” Robinson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. He is running unopposed.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not returned her survey yet, but we believe she is pro-life. She is running unopposed.

State House District 50

Isaia Aricayos (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Dave Young (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) has not responded to the survey but has supported Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 52

Donna Walter (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 53

Tim Bessler (R) has not responded to the survey.

Jennifer James Arndt (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 54

Yeulin Willett (R) has not responded to our survey.

Brad Webb (D) is pro-abortion.

Kyle Davis (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

James Fletcher (I) is an unknown quantity.

State House District 55

Dan Thurlow (R) has not responded to the survey.

Christopher Kennedy (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) has not responded to the survey.

Vicki Snider (D) is pro-abortion.

Chris Baerns (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 57

Rep. Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, nor in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life.

Sacha Mero (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 58

Rep. Don Coram (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year or in the past. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Coram is currently running unopposed.

State House District 59

Fmr. Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.

Rep. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has expressed a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not responded to this year’s survey (he did not respond in 2012).

Curtis Imrie (I) is pro-abortion.

State House District 61

Debra-Lynn Irvine (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask her to contact CRTL.

Rep. Millie Hamner (D) is pro-abortion.

Mac Trench (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 62

Marcy Freeburg (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 63

Rep. Lori Saine (R) has not returned our survey. She refused to answer the survey in 2012, and has expressed reservations about Personhood, though otherwise claims to be pro-life.

Dustin Urban (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, though he did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

State House District 64

Rep. Tim Dore (R) has not responded to the survey. He has expressed support for Personhood in the past. He is running unopposed.

State House District 65

Fmr. Rep. Jon Becker (R) has not responded to the survey. He is running unopposed.

**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Candidates from other parties, including 3rd parties, will be contacted before the November election.

Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey

Important Update on Candidates (Oct 2014)

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 20:17:00 +0000

CRTL will publish a complete update in the next few days. The information collected before the primary is here, listing many candidates who are already confirmed as pro-life.

In the meantime we wanted to make you aware of some important updates.

First, updates have been added to indicate pro-life candidates Jerry Sonnenberg (running for CO Senate District 1) and Mike Donald (running for CO House District 42).

Second, we have good news and bad news on the US Senate race in Colorado:

US Senate (Colorado)

There IS a pro-life candidate for US Senate running in Colorado!

However, he is not named Cory Gardner (R-CO).

Raul Acosta (I) has answered the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Acosta is an independent candidate for the US Senate who has been confirmed on the November ballot, so anyone in Colorado can vote for him without having to write his name in.

Raul Acosta is the ONLY candidate for the US Senate in Colorado who opposes abortion in all cases and believes in a Right to Life for unborn children from conception on.

Raul Acosta ran as a pro-life candidate for the US Senate in 2004, and has been an ally of Colorado Right to Life for many years.

Cory Gardner:

Rep. Cory Gardner was once a strong pro-lifer and ally of CRTL, but that has changed!

As you probably heard, Cory Gardner announced publicly that he no longer supports Personhood. He apologized for ever supporting it. He said he was well-meaning, but it was a mistake.

Of course the reason he gave for not supporting Personhood -- that it would ban "contraceptives" -- is completely false, and is a propaganda claim of NARAL and Planned Parenthood that is often repeated by the media.

Cory Gardner has attended briefings on Personhood by CRTL where this was discussed -- Cory should KNOW better! But since he knew it was a false statement and he made it anyway, we can only conclude he has made a cynical choice to give up on principles so he would be more attractive to moderate voters.

Cory promised to meet with CRTL to discuss his position, but that meeting never occurred. He doesn't want to talk.

Personhood is not the only position Gardner has changed since giving up his safe conservative Congressional seat and deciding to run for the US Senate statewide.

When told by the Denver Post that Sen. Mark Udall charged that Gardner was opposed to abortion "even in cases of rape and incest," Gardner told the Post Udall was lying.

So Cory Gardner now officially supports abortion in cases of rape or incest. That is 8,000 babies killed per year, for those reasons, nationwide.

Cory Gardner is also putting underage girls at risk for more sexual abuse because abortion is often used to cover up acts of incest, as shown recently by lawsuits in Colorado and Arizona, and as demonstrated by numerous stings run by Lila Rose's LiveAction. Planned Parenthood has shown a pattern of not reporting possible cases of child sex abuse as required by law. If abortion were made illegal in all cases, abortions could not be used to cover up the crimes.

As if that's not enough, Cory Gardner has more recently begun running ads saying he's for "birth control" over the counter!

What kinds of birth control? All kinds, apparently -- he's done this to counter the "opposes birth control" ads of the Democrats, which were based on his support of Personhood, and yet the only kinds of birth control Personhood could affect are abortifacients which can kill an already-conceived child.

So CRTL can only assume Cory Gardner wants to provide abortifacients (falsely called "emergency contraceptives") over the counter so women can have their abortions at home.

Besides "over the counter abortifacients" being an extremely pro-abortion proposal, and besides the likelihood this would encourage more permissive sex at younger ages, over the counter abortifacients could even make things easier for child sex traffickers who need to cover up their own crimes without risking going to a medical facility where staff are required by law to report any suspicions.

We also believe it is wildly irresponsible for a candidate for the US Senate to propose allowing potentially harmful high dose drugs be made available without the advice and prescription of a doctor.

The Mayo Clinic advises women to work closely with their health care providers and indicates, "Some [birth control] complications can be serious. They include the following:
    •Blood clots in the legs (recent studies suggest that the type of progestin used in the pill may affect the risk of blood clots, with pills containing drosperinone showing a higher risk)
   •Gallbladder disease
   •Heart attacks and stroke (smoking greatly increases the risk of these complications)
   •Liver tumors"

Even The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health links birth control pills to risk of breast cancer and other forms of cancer.

Hmm... Over the counter, without a doctor, with those sorts of potentially fatal side effects? That sounds like a decision that should be made by a doctor who knows someone’s medical history, not by a politician.

Where are the defenders of our children? Clearly Gardner isn’t one of them.

Other candidates:

Obviously, Sen. Mark Udall (D) is pro-abortion.

We believe all of the other independent and third party candidates are also pro-abortion, as confirmed on their websites, or from public statements.

2014 Pre-Primary Candidate Info

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:31:00 +0000

UPDATED 10/1/14
(also added new information on US Senate race)

Notes to readers:

1) The 2014 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 7 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on key pro-life issues. This list will be continuously updated. This list only includes Colorado legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

2) Many candidates say they’re “pro-life” but mean something very different than what true pro-lifers mean. Please keep this in mind before supporting candidates who do not respond to the CRTL Questionnaire.

3) No candidate who supports abortion for any reason is "pro-life.” Regardless of what they may say, any truly pro-life citizen/candidate believes that government has an obligation to protect all human life from conception forward, and therefore pledge to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors) – every innocent human being has an inalienable Right to Life at every age or stage of development.

4) Candidates from any party are invited to respond to the survey. However, CRTL has never been made aware of a candidate from either the Democrat Party or Libertarian Party who is truly pro-life.

5) CRTL does not endorse candidates, but rather issues a “white list” – people who we believe take their responsibility to unborn children under the law seriously. Candidates who are pro-life are listed in bold.

Candidates for Governor

Fmr. Sen. Mike Kopp (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He has been a supporter of Personhood throughout his legislative career and has attended CRTL legislative briefings.

Fmr. Cong. Tom Tancredo (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He has supported Personhood in the past.
Sec. State Scott Gessler (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He does not support Personhood and does not seem to be interested in serious changes in the status quo with regard to abortion.
Fmr. Cong. Bob Beauprez (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He is not believed to support Personhood.
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is pro-abortion.

Candidates for US Senate

*Updated 10/1

(New Info Post on US Senate Race)

Raul Acosta (Ind.) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Raul Acosta has also been a longtime CRTL donor and ran as a pro-life candidate for US Senate in 2004.

Cong. Cory Gardner (R) (see new info here) supported Personhood for many years but recently rejected a pro-life position in order to become more palatable to moderate voters. Since entering Congress he has steadily “marched left,” turning his back on solidly conservative positions he held on many issues. He says he is “still pro-life” but rejects protections for all innocent human beings at all stages of development and won’t oppose abortifacient birth control.

Sen. Mark Udall (D) is pro-abortion.

1st Congressional District

Still evaluating Republican candidates – if there’s a pro-life candidate please ask them to contact CRTL.

2nd Congressional District

George Leing (R) is pro-abortion.
Cong. Jared Polis (D) is pro-abortion.

3rd Congressional District

Cong. Scott Tipton (R) claims to be pro-life but has never responded to a CRTL survey and cannot be pinned down on specific positions. CRTL considers him unengaged and effectively pro-abortion.
David Cox (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey – please ask him to, or contact us if you have information. Fmr. Sen. Abel Tapia (D) is pro-abortion.

4th Congressional District

Sen. Scott Renfroe (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He has been a supporter of Personhood throughout his legislative career and has attended CRTL legislative briefings.
Barbara Kirkmeyer (R) has also responded to the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

(Update 6/23) Steve Laffey (R) has not responded to the survey, but apparently opposes Personhood and is not pro-life (supports abortion for rape & incest).
Ken Buck (R) says he supports Personhood again, after publicly rejecting the position in 2010. He has made statements to this effect, but has not responded to the CRTL survey and CRTL still has doubts about his position on key pro-life issues where he created much confusion and disruption in 2010. Please encourage him to answer the survey.
Vic Meyers (D) and Dan Chapin (D) are presumed to be pro-abortion.

5th Congressional District

Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year, but has in the past and has consistently maintained a pro-Personhood record in public statements and in his career in Congress, even co-sponsoring federal Personhood legislation.

Gen. Bentley Rayburn (R) has supported Personhood in the past, but recent statements make it seem like he’s criticizing Lamborn’s focus on pro-life and other social issues. Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey to establish his position this year.
Irv Halter (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

6th Congressional District

7th Congressional District

Doug “Dayhorse” Campbell (ACP) has not yet responded to this year’s CRTL survey, but has done so in the past and his personal and party platforms are strictly pro-Personhood – we have confidence that Campbell is pro-life.

Don Ytterberg (R) calls himself pro-life but has refused to take solid positions, focusing on other issues and leaving doubt as to his real beliefs on the Right to Life. CRTL has seen this from other candidates who turned out not to be pro-life to any substantial degree. Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.
Cong. Ed Perlmutter (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate Candidates

State Senate District 1

*Update 10/1
Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.
Doug Aden (ACP) is presumed to support Personhood, as it is the official position of his party.

State Senate District 2

Sen. Kevin Grantham (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He is the only candidate so far for this office.

State Senate District 3

Sen. George Rivera (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not yet responded to the survey.
Leroy Garcia (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 5

Don Suppes (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Kerry Donovan (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 6

Sen. Ellen Roberts (R) is regarded as the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. She is currently unopposed by either party.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Ray Scott (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Claudette Konola (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

Sen. Kent Lambert (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed so far.

State Senate District 11

Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not responded to the survey yet.
Rep. Mike Merrifield (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 13

John Cooke (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Joe Perez (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 15

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed, so far.

State Senate District 16

Fmr. Sen. Tim Neville (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Laura Woods (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed she is pro-life.

Lang Sias (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey (this is his 3rd election cycle) and his statements indicate he is only opposed to late term abortions (meaning he may support all the rest). He is NOT pro-life. Many Republicans claim to be pro-life but don’t want to explain that they define that term loosely.
Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D) was appointed to this seat after a recall effort forced the resignation of the previous senator. Zenzinger is believed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Larry Queen (R) has indicated that he is strongly pro-life and has said he will respond to the survey.
Sen. Cheri Jahn (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Tony Sanchez (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Mario Nicolais (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Sen. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 24

Beth Humenik (R) has not responded to the survey this year, and did not in previous years either. Please ask her to contact CRTL.
Judy Solano (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 30

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Bette Davis (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 32

Dawne Murray (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Sen. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 34

Stuart Siffring (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Sen. Lucia Guzman (D) is pro-abortion.

State House Candidates

State House Districts 1 - 13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

The one exception here is District 4:

State House District 4

David Dobson (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He ran a campaign in 2012 based primarily on Personhood, and is expected to run a similar campaign in 2014.

Rep. Dan Pabon (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.
Glenn Carlson (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 15

Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has returned his survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.
Dave Williams (R) has returned his survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
(NOTE: Surveys by other groups -- Christian Coalition and/or Christian Family Alliance -- have discounted Klingenscmitt's support for Personhood and have instead "knocked points off" because he will not support anti-abortion regulations which undermine Personhood and deny the Right to Life of the unborn child. They are falsely claiming he is not completely pro-life. Beware! Keep in mind that many pro-life and Christian groups do not have the same understanding of Personhood as CRTL does.)

Lois Fornander (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not returned his survey yet. He says he is pro-life on his site, and is believed to support Personhood but this is not confirmed. He has worked closely with CRTL for several years in drafting a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure for consideration by the legislature. He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.
Ryan Macoubrie (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 17

Both Catherine “Kit” Roupe (R) and Rep. Tony Exum (D) are pro-abortion, which is unusual for such a conservative district.

State House District 18

Michael Schlierf (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please encourage him to do so.
Rep. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 19

Paul Lundeen (R) has not returned his survey yet -- please encourage him to do so. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 20

Kristen Selzer (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

Terri Carver (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Miles Dewhirst (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Daniel Stanforth (R) has not yet responded to the survey.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) has not returned her survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Loren Bauman (R) is running as a “pro-choice” alternative candidate against Everett, (i.e. is NOT pro-life).
Mary Parker (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Jane Barnes (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 24

Joseph Demott (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please help us get in touch with him or ask him to respond.
Jessie Danielson (D) was formerly a director for the local branch of pro-abortion NARAL (i.e. is avidly pro-abortion).
Kristian Teegardin (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 25

Jonathan Keyser (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Janet Doyle (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) is running again, but he still has not contacted CRTL. Please ask him to contact us.
David Moloney (R) has not returned his survey. Please ask him, also, to answer his survey.
Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Rep. Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting.
Wade Michael Norris (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 28

Stacia Kuhn (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 29

Fmr. Rep. Robert Ramirez (R) has supported Personhood in the past, but has not responded to this year’s survey.
Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 30

JoAnn Windholz (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 31

Carol “Jody” Beckler (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 32

Edgar Antillon (R) has not responded to the survey yet. He says he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL.
Rep. Dominick Moreno (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

Marijo Tinlin (R) defeated a likely pro-abortion Republican in the primary, and Tinlin appears to be pro-life and may support Personhood. Please ask her to contact CRTL or respond to the survey to establish this for certain.
Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 34

Alexander Winkler (R) has not responded to the survey yet. If you know him, please have him contact us.
Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Mike Melvin (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Faith Winter (D) has not been surveyed, but is probably pro-abortion.

State House District 36

Richard Bowman (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 37

Michael Fields (R) has responded to our survey, and rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

John Tate (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Nancy Cronk (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.
Robert Bowen (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.
James Huff (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 40

JulieMarie Shepherd (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 41

Rep. Jovan Melton (D) is pro-abortion.

Update 10/15:
Molly Barrett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

State House District 42

*Update 10/1
Mike Donald (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has been very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is pro-abortion.

State House District 43

Kevin Van Winkle (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Henry Barlow (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 44

Jack Hilbert (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Karen Jae Smith (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 45

Patrick Neville (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Brandon Wicks (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 46

Alexander Mugatu (R) has supported Personhood in the past but has not responded to this year’s survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Brian Mater (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Daneya Esgar (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions.
Terrance Hestand (D) and Lucretia “Robbie” Robinson (D) are both presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. There was some controversy about the conduct of the 2012 primary election regarding the abortion issue. Since being elected, Humphrey seems to have done his best to earn a reputation for pro-life legislation and positions. Please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not returned her survey yet. She is currently running unopposed.

State House District 50

Isaia Aricayos (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Rep. Dave Young (D) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) has not yet responded to the survey but has supported Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 52

Donna Walter (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 53

Tim Bessler (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Jennifer James Arndt (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 54

Yeulin Willett (R) has not yet responded to our survey. Please encourage him to respond back with us.
Brad Webb (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 55

Steven Acquafresca (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Dan Thurlow (R) also has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Christopher Kennedy (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Vicki Snider (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 57

Rep. Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, nor in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 58

Rep. Don Coram (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year or in the past. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Coram is currently running unopposed.

State House District 59

Fmr. Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Rep. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has expressed a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not responded to this year’s survey (he did not respond in 2012). He is running unopposed at present.

State House District 61

Rep. Millie Hamner (D) is pro-abortion.
Debra-Lynn Irvine (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask her to contact CRTL.

State House District 62

Marcy Freeburg (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 63

Rep. Lori Saine (R) has not yet returned our survey. She refused to answer the survey in 2012, and has expressed reservations about Personhood, though otherwise claims to be pro-life. Please encourage her to return her survey this year.
Bruce Sparrow (R) is running against her in the primary. It’s unclear where he stands, and we do not have a contact e-mail for him yet – if you know him, please ask him to contact CRTL.
Dustin Urban (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 64

Rep. Tim Dore (R) has not responded to the survey yet. He has expressed support for Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 65

Fmr. Rep. Jon Becker (R) has not responded to the survey yet. He is currently running unopposed.

**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Candidates from other parties, including 3rd parties, will be contacted before the November election.

Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey may contact office@coloradorighttolife.org.

2014 Pre-Caucus Candidate Information

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 01:07:00 +0000

Update 6/5 - This list of candidate positions has been expanded and updated for the 2014 Primary Election, new positions listed here. Please disregard this listing.

OBSOLETE INFO (see above)

Update 3/22 - Cong. Cory Gardner (R), candidate for the US Senate, has renounced his belief in Personhood and now supports rape and incest exceptions for abortion, meaning that he supports 8,000 abortions of innocent human children per year. He is no longer a pro-life candidate, having betrayed the children in pursuit of political office.

Update 4/4 - Cong. Mike Coffman (R) has also said he no longer supports Personhood.

Note to readers: 1) This list will be updated quickly with new survey responses as more candidates respond. Many may not have had time to respond, because of how busy they are during this pre-caucus season. If a pro-life candidate has not responded, please encourage them to do so!
2) This list is limited to Colorado legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates. Our volunteers have limited time to expand the scope of this survey. CRTL may issue statements on other races, but for the most part this is our focus in 2014.

The 2014 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 7 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on issues from pro-abortion mandates to fetal homicide legislation to the protection of unborn children under the 5th and 14th Amendments. Each year we have had to be more careful not to expose our favorite candidates to attack by opponents based on their responses. In 2012, we even saw a heretofore well-regarded pro-life legislator attacking a pro-Personhood candidate by twisting and lying about his responses to the CRTL survey. Therefore, this year specific questions and candidates’ answers will not be made public. CRTL will issue its opinion on each candidate’s dedication to Personhood principles, and we ask you to trust that we are rigorous in our evaluation of candidates. CRTL does not endorse candidates, but rather issues a “white list” – people who we believe take their responsibility to unborn children under the law seriously.

No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they support the Personhood amendment and have pledged to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors). This is the only position consistent with the inalienable Right to Life of every innocent human being at every age or stage of development. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Positive respondents to the survey are listed as “rigorously affirmed that they are pro-life” – this is not to say they will remain pro-life under pressure, but they have affirmed to CRTL that they agree with our positions on the 7 issues. A number of candidates who are probably pro-life are not listed as such yet because they have not responded to the survey. At this early date, a number of candidates who are running unopposed or whose position is relatively well known have not received the survey yet.

Candidates for Governor

John Hickenlooper (D) is pro-abortion.
Tom Tancredo (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He has supported Personhood in the past.
Mike Kopp (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He has supported Personhood in the past and said in a recent debate that he supported the ballot measure in 2012.
Sen. Greg Brophy (R) (Update 3/26) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Sec. State Scott Gessler (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He is not believed to be supportive of Personhood or serious changes in the status quo with regard to abortion.
Jason Clark (R) has not responded to the survey, but is regarded as pro-abortion based on prior statements.
Steve House (R) has not responded to the survey, and said in a recent debate that he did NOT support Personhood in 2012. He is not believed to be pro-life.
Roni Bell Sylvester (R) has not responded to the survey. If you know her please ask her to return her survey.
Jim Rundberg (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Candidates for US Senate

(This race has gotten confused this week as Ken Buck and Amy Stephens may have dropped their bids for US Senate in favor of Congressman Cory Gardner – we list all these candidates, just in case)

Update 3/22 - Cong. Cory Gardner (R), candidate for the US Senate, has renounced his belief in Personhood and now supports rape and incest exceptions for abortion, meaning that he supports 8,000 abortions of innocent human children per year. He is no longer a pro-life candidate, having betrayed the children in pursuit of political office.
Sen. Owen Hill (R) has responded to our survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Fmr. Rep. Amy Stephens (R) has not responded to our survey (and in fact has NEVER responded to a survey from CRTL, nor we believe from Colorado Springs Citizens for Life either). She claims to be pro-life and claims to support Personhood, but her sincerity is deeply questioned.
Sen. Randy Baumgardner (R) (Updated 4/4) has responded to our survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Mark Aspiri (R) has not yet responded to the survey. One report says that he claimed support for the 2012 Personhood amendment, but that has not been confirmed.

Congressional Candidates

(CRTL is collecting surveys from Congressional candidates, but there is not much in the way of competition this year, and our early efforts are more concentrated on those races where there is a clear choice – we will report more in the future)

(Update 4/4 - Quick notes on some districts)

CD 4
Ken Buck (R) backed off on his commitment to Personhood in his 2010 race for this office. He has since re-affirmed his support for Personhood, most recently in this week’s senatorial debate.
Sen. Scott Renfroe (R) has supported Personhood in the past -- please encourage him to return his CRTL survey to confirm continued support.

CD 5
Both Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) and Gen. Bentley Rayburn (R) have supported Personhood in the past. Lamborn has a proven record of supporting Personhood at the Congressional level. Rayburn may have signaled that his focus is more on economic issues, but we are surveying both candidates and hope to hear back.

CD 6
Cong. Mike Coffman (R) has renounced his past support of Personhood and is no longer pro-life.

State Senate Candidates

(Many candidates who are running unopposed in the primary have not been sent surveys yet, so cannot have responded.)

State Senate District 1

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) is the only candidate so far for this office. He has not yet received the survey, so can’t have responded, but has supported Personhood in the past.

State Senate District 2

Sen. Kevin Grantham (R) is the only candidate so far for this office. He has not yet received the survey, so can’t have responded, but has supported Personhood in the past.

State Senate District 3

Sen. George Rivera (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not yet responded to the survey. (Update 3/4 - Comment from CRTL Board Member Dee Waite: "Senator George Rivera is pro-life. He signed the Amendment 67 petition and wouldn't compromise his pro-life commitment when attacked by the press and Angela Giron.")
Leroy Garcia (D) has not been surveyed yet.

State Senate District 5

Don Suppes (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Kerry Donovan (D) has not been surveyed yet.

State Senate District 6

Sen. Ellen Roberts (R) is regarded as the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. It’s unclear if there will be opposition to her in the primary. She is currently unopposed by either party.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Ray Scott (R) has not been surveyed yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Claudette Konola (D), is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

Sen. Kent Lambert (R) has not been surveyed yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past. He is unopposed so far.

State Senate District 11

Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not been surveyed yet.
Rep. Mike Merrifield (D), is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 13

Neither candidate for SD 13 has been surveyed yet. We will update when information is available.

State Senate District 15

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past. He is unopposed, so far.

State Senate District 16

Former Sen. Tim Neville (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Richard Wenzel (R), doesn’t appear to have an e-mail or website (if you know him could you let us know how to reach him?).
Incumbent Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Laura Woods (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.
Lang Sias (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey (this is his 3rd election cycle) and his position is suspect (many Republicans claim to be pro-life but don’t want to explain they define that term loosely). There is no reason to believe he would support Personhood, in any case.
Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D) was appointed to this seat after a recall effort forced the resignation of the previous senator. Zenzinger is believed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Larry Queen (R) (Updated 3/3) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Art Carlson (R) has not responded to the survey yet, and has not responded to prior surveys. He claims to be pro-life, but his unwillingness to go on record to define his position makes us question his commitment.
A third Republican, Robert Hogan (R) appears not to have a website or e-mail (if you know him could you let us know how to reach him?).
The incumbent Sen. Cheri Jahn (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Neither Tony Sanchez (R) or Mario Nicolais (R) have responded to the survey yet. Sanchez is regarded as the more conservative (and pro-life) of the two.
Sen. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 24

Judy Solano (D) is the only candidate announced in this race. She is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 30

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He is unopposed so far in this race.

State Senate District 32

Sen. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion. She is unopposed, so far, in this race.

State Senate District 34

Sen. Lucia Guzman (D) is pro-abortion. She is unopposed, so far, in this race.

State House Candidates

State House Districts 1 - 13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has been an aide to pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn, and has also been associated with the pro-life Republican Study Committee, so we assume he is inclined to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.
Glenn Carlson (D) is likely to be pro-abortion, but we will survey him to see.

State House District 15

Dave Williams (R) has returned his survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has also returned his survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.
Michael Kuhn (R) has not yet returned his survey. If you know him, please encourage him to return his survey.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not returned his survey yet. He says he is pro-life on his site, and is believed to support Personhood but this is not confirmed. He has worked closely with CRTL for several years in drafting a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure for consideration by the legislature. He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey. He is running unopposed.

State House District 17

Both Catherine “Kit” Roupe (R) and Rep. Tony Exum (D) are pro-abortion, which is unusual for such a conservative district. It is unclear if someone who is pro-life intends to stand against Roupe in the primary.

State House District 18

Rep. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion. At present, he is running unopposed.

State House District 19

Neither Joshua Brooks (R) or Paul Lundeen (R) have returned their surveys, so they are unknown quantities. Please encourage them to return their surveys.

State House District 20

Kristen Selzer (R) (Updated 3/3) has responded to the survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Terri Carver (R), Mark Braunlich (R), Miles Dewhirst (R) and Daniel Stanforth have been sent surveys, but have not returned them yet. Please encourage all of these candidates to return their surveys, preferably before the caucus.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) has not been surveyed yet, but has supported Personhood in the past. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) has not yet been surveyed, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Mary Parker (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion. At present he is running unopposed.

State House District 24

Joseph Demott (R) has not been surveyed because we cannot find contact information. If you know him, please help us get in touch with him.
Jessie Danielson (D) was formerly a director for the local branch of pro-abortion NARAL.
Kristian Teegardin (D) is also running, and is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 25

Jonathan Keyser (R) has not yet been surveyed. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) is running again, but he still has not contacted CRTL (nor can we find contact information for him). Please ask him to contact us.
David Moloney (R) has not returned his survey. Please ask him, also, to answer his survey.
Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Rep. Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 28

Rep. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 29

Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 30

Rep. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 31

Rep. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 32

Edgar Antillon (R) has not been surveyed yet. He says he is pro-life.
Rep. Dominick Moreno (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

David Pigott (R) failed to respond to 3 attempts to contact him in 2012, and has not yet been surveyed this year. It is Pigott’s intentional strategy to avoid any conversation not related to economic issues, and it is CRTL’s best assessment that he is not pro-life.
Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 34

Alexander Winkler (R) has not been surveyed yet because we do not have contact information. If you know him, please have him contact us.
Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Faith Winter (D) has not been surveyed, but is probably pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 36

Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 37

Michael Fields (R) and Jay Ledbetter (R) have both responded to our survey, and rigorously affirmed they are pro-life.
Brian Olson (R), Carrie Penaloza (R) and John Tate (R) have not responded to the survey yet (we can’t reach Olson or Penaloza – if you know them please have them contact us).
Marlo Sherrie Alston (D) has not been surveyed, but is likely pro-abortion.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet been surveyed, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Carla Turner (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 40

Rep. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 41

Rep. Jovan Melton (D) is pro-abortion. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 42

Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has been very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 43

Kevin Van Winkle (R) has responded to our survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life (Updated 3/12).

State House District 44

Jack Hilbert (R) has responded to the CRTL survey, and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. (Updated 3/5)

State House District 45

Patrick Neville (R) and Jack Arrowsmith (R) have both responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed they are pro-life.

State House District 46

Alexander Mugatu (R) has not returned our survey, but has expressed support for Personhood in the past.
Brian Mater (R) has no contact information we can find. Please encourage both of them to return their surveys.
Two unknown Democrats are also running for this seat.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. It should be noted that there were some underhanded and offensive tactics used in his primary against another pro-Personhood candidate in 2012, but we are unaware of evidence that Humphrey himself directed the most egregious of these (the grossly misleading letter went out under another letterhead). Since being elected, Humphrey seems to have done his best to earn a reputation for pro-life legislation and positions.
John Gibson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not been surveyed yet. She is currently running unopposed.

State House District 50

Isaia Aricayos (R) has not been surveyed yet.
Rep. Dave Young (D) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) has not yet been surveyed. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 52

Rep. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion. She is currently running unopposed.

State House District 53

Jennifer James Arndt (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion. She is running unopposed currently.

State House District 54

Rep. Jared Wright (R) has not yet responded to our survey, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Yeulin Willett (R) has not yet responded to our survey. Please encourage them to respond back with us.
Brad Webb (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 55

Steven Acquafresca (R) has not been surveyed yet.
Christopher Kennedy (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) has not been surveyed yet. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 57

Rep. Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, nor in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 58

Rep. Don Coram (R) has never responded to the CRTL survey in the past, but has not been surveyed yet this year. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Coram is currently running unopposed.

State House District 59

Former Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) has not yet been surveyed, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Rep. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has expressed a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not been surveyed yet in 2014 (he did not respond in 2012). He is running unopposed at present.

State House District 61

Rep. Millie Hamner (D) is pro-abortion.
Debra-Lynn Irvine (R) has not been surveyed yet.

State House District 62

Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 63

Rep. Lori Saine (R) has not yet returned our survey. She refused to answer the survey in 2012, and has expressed reservations about Personhood, though otherwise claims to be pro-life. Please encourage her to return her survey this year.
Bruce Sparrow (R) is running against her in the primary. It’s unclear where he stands, and we do not have a contact e-mail for him yet – if you know him, please ask him to contact CRTL.
Dustin Urban (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 64

Rep. Tim Dore (R) has not been surveyed yet. He has expressed support for Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 65

Fmr. Rep. Jon Becker (R) has not been surveyed yet. He is currently running unopposed.

**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Candidates from other parties, including 3rd parties, will be contacted before the November election. Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey may contact office@coloradorighttolife.org.

Pre-Election Legislative Candidate Evaluations, October 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 03:22:00 +0000

Update 11/2 re:Larry Crowder - Senate District 35 (below)

Note to readers: 1) This list will be updated with new survey responses if more candidates respond. If a pro-life candidate has not responded, please encourage them to do so!
2) This list is limited to Colorado legislative candidates. Our volunteers have limited time to expand the scope of this survey. CRTL may issue statements on other races, but for the most part this is our focus in 2012.

The 2012 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 9 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on government mandates such as the HHS rule that would force pro-life doctors and pharmacists to prescribe abortifacients, fetal homicide legislation, taxpayer funding of abortions, the protection of unborn children under the 5th and 14th Amendments, whether they believe in exceptions to allow abortions for rape or incest, their position on the Personhood Amendment, beliefs about euthanasia, beliefs about medical experiments that destroy a developing human being, and their position on whether it is sometimes okay to compromise in order to save some lives even though the compromise undermines the principle of a Right to Life (i.e. are anti-abortion regulations helping or hurting the fight to establish rights for all unborn children?).

No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they support the Personhood amendment and have pledged to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors). This is the only position consistent with the inalienable Right to Life of every innocent human being at every age or stage of development. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Congressional Candidates

Congressional District 2

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) is pro-life and has been an ally of the pro-life movement for many years, has endorsed and signed petitions for all of Colorado’s Personhood Amendments.

Congressional District 5

Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) is 100% pro-life and has cosponsored Personhood legislation at the federal level. This is a major sign of commitment that Lamborn has been the most outspoken of all of Colorado’s Congressional delegation on this issue.

* Note on Other Congressional candidates: Other candidates, including Reps. Gardner and Coffman, and including Joe Coors (candidate in the 7th district) are believed to be pro-life, but were not surveyed, and the extent of their continued commitment to Personhood is unclear. Doug Campbell, American Constitution Party candidate in the 7th District, is pro-life and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly.

State Senate Candidates

State Senate District 4

Mark Scheffel (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to support Personhood. Please ask him to return his survey. Holly Gorman (D) is pro-abortion, and Chris Grundemann (L) is believed to be also (Libertarian positions are generally not pro-life).

State Senate District 8

Rep. Randy Baumgardner (R) is 100% pro-life with no exceptions, and supports Personhood. He has responded to the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered correctly. Emily Tracy (D) and Sacha Weis (L) are pro-abortion.

State Senate District 10

Owen Hill (R) is pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 8 out of 9 questions answered correctly (he still believes anti-abortion regulations are helpful, but is willing to listen further about how they undermine the Right to Life). Christopher Mull (ACP) may support Personhood (his party platform supports Personhood). Brandon Hughes (L) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 12

Sen. Bill Cadman (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered appropriately. James Michael Bristol (ACP) may support Personhood (his party platform supports Personhood). Dave Rispecki (L) is probably pro-abortion (Libertarians typically are).

State Senate District 14

Syndi Anderson (R) has been contacted multiple times, but has not returned her CRTL survey. Personal conversation has indicated she supports abortion in cases of rape and incest. John Kefalas (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of violence (he opposed the bill that would allow the unborn children of pregnant victims of crime to be treated as victims under the law). Rothe Barrett (U) is pro-abortion. Jeff Johnston (L) is probably pro-abortion (Libertarian candidates typically are).

State Senate District 17

Charlie Plagainos (R) has not returned his CRTL survey. His website has no indication that he is pro-life. He is believed to be pro-abortion. If you have information to the contrary, please let us know. Matt Jones (D) is pro-abortion, and presumably so is Ken Bray (L), as most in his party are.

State Senate District 18

Barry Thoma (R) responded to the CRTL survey without answering questions. He claimed to be opposed to Roe v. Wade, but indicated he wasn’t sure when unborn children should be protected under the law. He may believe he is pro-life, but he does not understand the issues at all. He appears to be pro-abortion with exceptions. Rollie Heath (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Lang Sias (R) has called himself pro-life, but has been contacted several times during 2010 and 2012 and has never answered a CRTL survey. His credentials and commitments are suspect. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. We have no reason to believe Sias is legitimately or sincerely pro-life. Sen. Evie Hudak (D) is pro-abortion. Lloyd Sweeney (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates of his party are.

State Senate District 21

Francine Bigelow (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and answered correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. Jessie Ulibarri (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Ken Summers (R), despite being a former pastor, Summers is NOT pro-life. He has voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill), and has responded angrily when asked about pro-life measures. Summers did support CRTL’s principled fetal homicide measure in 2012. Rep. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn children who are victims of crimes (the fetal homicide measure).

State Senate District 23

Vicki Marble (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood and answered 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey correctly. Lee Kemp (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 25

John Sampson (R) claims to be pro-life, but he has been contacted multiple times, and has not returned his CRTL survey. His website has no indication that he is pro-life. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. The only thing we know about him is that he will not support the Personhood Amendment, or discuss the issue further. Sen. Mary Hodge (D) is pro-abortion. Ronald Schweitzer (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State Senate District 26

David Kerber (R) has never even claimed to be pro-life. He has not answered the CRTL survey even after multiple contacts and has refused to sign the Personhood petition. To the best of CRTL’s knowledge, Kerber is NOT pro-life. Sen. Linda Newell (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 27

Rep. Dave Balmer (R) has expressed strong pro-life commitments and is pro-Personhood, but has not returned his CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so. David Paladino (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 28

John Lyons (R) claims to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey even after numerous contacts. He is not believed to support Personhood. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Nancy Todd (D) is pro-abortion. Robert Harrison (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates in his party are.

State Senate District 29

Bill Ross (R) has been contacted twice and has not responded to the CRTL survey. We have no information to indicate he is pro-life. Sen. Morgan Carroll (D) and Michele Poague (L) are pro-abortion.

State Senate District 31

Michael Carr (R) has become the GOP candidate since the primary, and has not had time to respond to the CRTL survey. If he responds, we will update you. As of now, we have no information on his positions on abortion. Sen. Pat Steadman (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 32

Roger Logan (R) is an unknown quantity and we have no information on him. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 33

Jason DeBerry (R) claims to be pro-life, but responded to the CRTL survey with only 5 of 9 questions answered correctly (he does not believe in Personhood, doesn’t believe humans should be protected from conception on, and believes euthanasia should be allowed). He is NOT pro-life. We will work with him to convince him to reconsider on these points. Sen. Mike Johnston (D) is pro-abortion. Courtney Kolva (L) is pro-abortion (she even supports public funding for abortions, which is unusual for a Libertarian candidate).

State Senate District 35

Update 11/2: Larry Crowder (R) is 100% pro-life with no exceptions, and supports Personhood. His wife even runs a crisis pregnancy center in Alamosa. Crestina Martinez (D) is pro-abortion. William Stuart Bartley (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House Candidates

State House District 1

John Kidd (R) has not returned his CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so. Rep. Jeanne Labuda (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Mike Law (L) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 2

TJ Tyrrell (R) is an unknown quantity. Please encourage him to contact CRTL. Rep. Mark Ferrandino (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Desiree Maikranz (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 3

Brian Watson (R) is an unknown quantity. Please encourage him to contact CRTL. Rep. Daniel Kagan (D) is pro-abortion, and led the fight to oppose justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). David Jurist (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 4

David Dobson (R-Denver) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and answered the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. Rep. Dan Pabon (D) claims to be a “pro-life Catholic” but that is NOT true -- he is actually pro-abortion. Pabon even voted to oppose justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Pabon (the “pro-life Catholic”) has been endorsed by pro-abortion Planned Parenthood, which requires total adherence to their agenda to qualify for an endorsement.

State House District 5

Ronnie Nelson (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Rep. Crisanta Duran (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Victor Villacres (G) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 6

Robert Hardaway (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Rep. Lois Court (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Morton Brooks (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 7

Travis French (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Rep. Angela Williams (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). .

State House District 8

Alan Johnson (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Rep. Beth McCann (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Maury Mingle (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 9

Celeste Gamache (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe she is pro-life. Please ask her to contact CRTL. Rep. Paul Rosenthal (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 10

William Eckert (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 11

Ellyn Hilliard (R) does not support Personhood, and supports abortion in cases of rape or incest. This is not a pro-life position. Rep. Jonathan Singer (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 12

Russ Lyman (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Mike Foote (D) is pro-abortion. Matthew Webber (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 13

Adam Ochs (R) has not contacted CRTL and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Rep. Claire Levy (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Howard Lambert (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has been an aide to pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn, and has also been associated with the pro-life Republican Study Committee, so we assume he is inclined to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey. We also assume Thomas O’Dell (ACP) supports Personhood, as most candidates from his party do. David Lucero (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 15

Rep. Mark Waller (R) claims to be pro-life, but has not supported Personhood, and is not believed to be truly pro-life. Michael Edstrom (ACP) is presumably pro-life as are most candidates from his party, but please encourage him to contact us. Larry Reedy (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life on his site, but his support of Personhood is unknown. He was very cooperative with CRTL in pushing a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure through the legislature this year – the first time one passed either chamber of the Colorado legislature (it failed in the Senate a couple of weeks ago). He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey. David Rawe (ACP) probably supports Personhood, as most candidates from his party do. Michael Giallombardo (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 17

Mark Barker (R) is pro-life and supports Personhood. He responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, and this year he indicated his positions have not changed and will not. Tony Exum (D) is pro-abortion, as is Susan Quilleash (L). Barry Forest Pace (ACP) probably supports Personhood, as most candidates from his party do.

State House District 18

Jennifer George (R) has not returned her CRTL survey, and we are unsure of her commitment to pro-life issues. The American Constitution Party has a candidate, Amy Fedde, who presumably supports Personhood, as do most from her party. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion. Robert Melamede (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 19

Rep. Amy Stephens (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never answered a CRTL survey, and her record with regard to pro-life issues is mixed (she supported CRTL’s principled fetal homicide measure, but also in the past supported muzzling pro-life protestors with a new law she sponsored). With rare exceptions, she has remained silent and disinterested in pro-life issues in the past 6 years at the Capitol. She enabled Obamacare, and its taxpayer-paid abortion provisions, by sponsoring HB-200. After 3 attempts to contact her in 2012 (and at least a dozen, total, since 2008), she has never responded to the survey. Nor has she responded to the Pikes Peak Citizens for Life survey, or the Christian Coalition survey. If she is pro-life, why wouldn’t she respond to at least one of us?? Also, NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Stephens a 67% rating in 2008. CRTL is very concerned that Stephens is a FAKE pro-lifer.

Alan Bassett (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are. Timothy Biolchini (ACP) probably supports Personhood, as most candidates from his party do.

State House District 20

Rep. Bob Gardner (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and also supported the conscience-violating “emergency contraceptive” legislation which forces pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide the abortion-causing “morning after pill.” Gardner is NOT pro-life. Michael Goldsborough (D) is probably pro-abortion.

State House District 21

Lois Landgraf (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 of 9 questions. Sean Halstead (ACP) probably supports Personhood. Laticia Burns (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 of 9 questions. Mary Parker (D) and Lynn Weitzel (L) are both pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Rick Enstrom (R) has failed to respond to multiple attempts to contact him, and has not returned his survey. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Michael Beckerman (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 24

E.V. Leyendecker (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, and is believed to be pro-abortion. Rep. Sue Schafer (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Christian Althen (L) is is pro-abortion.

State House District 25

Cheri Gerou (R) is NOT regarded as pro-life. She has never responded to a CRTL survey and is considered an unreliable vote on even the least of pro-life votes. Lorna Idol (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Jack Woehr (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting. Tim Allport (D) is pro-abortion. G.T. Martin (L) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 28

Amy Attwood (R) is probably pro-life, but we have asked her for a survey response 3 times so that we can establish this, and she still has not responded. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion. Niles Anderson (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most in his party are.

State House District 29

Robert Ramirez (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past. We believe he is pro-life. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) and Hans Romer (L) are pro-abortion.

State House District 30

Mike Sheely (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past, though we have no heard from him this year. We believe he is pro-life. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion. Shea Lantz (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from that party are.

State House District 31

Beth Humenik (R) is an unknown quantity – she has not responded to the CRTL survey and there’s nothing on her website to indicate views on abortion. We must presume she is not pro-life. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 32

Paul Reimer (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but his responses to an online survey appear to qualify him as pro-life, though specific support for Personhood is unclear. He doesn’t appear to have a website or contact info available online. If anyone could put him in touch with CRTL that would be appreciated. Dominick Moreno (D) and Brett Halbert (L) are pro-abortion.

State House District 33

David Pigott (R) has failed to respond to 3 attempts to contact him, and has not returned his survey. It is Pigott’s intentional strategy to avoid any conversation not related to economic issues, and it is CRTL’s best assessment that he is not pro-life. Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). W. Earl Allen (L) is is pro-abortion.

State House District 34

Jodina Widhalm (R) has claimed to a supporter that she signed the 2012 Personhood petition. She needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Please ask her to contact us. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Rep. Brian Vande Krol (R) is pro-abortion (he was mis-identified in 2010 as pro-Personhood, but set the record straight with a reporter that he supports “a woman’s right to choose”). Rep. Cherilyn Peniston (D) is also pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 36

Jim Parker (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us. Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). Wes Long (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 37

Rep. Spencer Swalm (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey, being approached more than 6 times over 6 years time, and supported the conscience-violating "emergency contraception" mandate in the legislature. His commitment to pro-life issues is in question. Jan Spooner (D) is pro-abortion. Jeffrey Kicia (L) calls himself pro-life, but misunderstands some important issues, and supports abortion in cases of rape & incest.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues. Donovan O’Dell (D) is pro-abortion. Jonathan Barber (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 39

Polly Lawrence (R) is pro-life, and has expressed support for Personhood, answering correctly on 9 of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. We have some caution because she did not support Personhood in 2010, but we will trust that she is sincere and let her build a pro-life record in the legislature to confirm her support. Carla Turner (D) is pro-abortion. Donna Price (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 40

Cynthia Acree (R) is believed to be pro-life, but she has not responded to the CRTL survey. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 41

Art Carlson (R) is a recent entry into this race, having lost a primary for the State Senate earlier. He claims to be pro-life, but has avoided going on record to any degree. He is believed to not be sincerely pro-life. Jovan Melton (D) and Maria Fay (I) are pro-abortion.

State House District 42

Michael Donald (R) is 100% pro-life and supports Personhood, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions on the survey. Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has become very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). .

State House District 43

Speaker Frank McNulty (R) has said in the past he supports Personhood, but he has taken action as leader of the House Republicans which cast doubt upon his commitment to taking pro-life action. He has never responded to a CRTL survey. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Gary Semro (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 44

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. Jarrod Austin (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 45

Rep. Carole Murray (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Tony Stoughton (D) is pro-abortion. Hanna Kjerengtroen (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 46

Jerry Denney (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey but information on his website uses “code words” that seem to indicate he is pro-abortion.. We must presume he is not pro-life. Leroy Garcia (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as almost all candidates from his party are.

State House District 47

Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Chuck Rodosevich (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 48

Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey with 8 of 9 questions answered correctly (not agreeing with CRTL’s position against anti-abortion regulations which undermine the concept of a Right to Life). John Gibson (D) is pro-abortion.

Note: It should be noted that there was a bitter primary between two Republican candidates who responded with pro-life answers to the CRTL survey, but at least one of the mailers/letters against Jeffrey Hare (R) was intentionally misleading and deceptive, saying that he opposed pro-life legislation, whereas he instead pledged on his survey to support a total ban on abortion (Personhood), and the letter specifically said Hare opposed fetal homicide legislation, whereas Hare specifically promised to support such legislation on the CRTL survey. Moreover, the letter from a sitting legislator made it sound like Hare’s answers to the CRTL survey opposed pro-life legislation, whereas Hare’s responses were actually better than Humphrey’s. While Humphrey unquestionably benefited from these mailers (many of which may have been deceptive or misleading, but only one of which CRTL can confirm as such), it’s unclear if Humphrey was involved in creating or authorizing these mailers. Humphrey has apparently not denounced these mailers. He has not responded to a request to contact CRTL to discuss the deceptive letter. CRTL is uncertain if anyone can trust Humphrey, considering what has happened.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not responded to CRTL’s survey, or attempts to contact her, so her position on Personhood is unknown. James Shelton (D) is probably pro-abortion, as almost all candidates from his party are.

State House District 50

Arthur “Skip” Carlson (R) is an unknown quantity, and nothing on his website helps to understand where he stands on abortion. He is presumed not to be pro-life. Dave Young (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) is believed to support Personhood, but we have not heard from him to confirm this. Mark Shaffer (D) is pro-abortion. Michael Renker (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 52

Bob Morain (R) is an unknown quantity, and nothing on his website helps to understand where he stands on abortion. He is presumed not to be pro-life. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 53

Jonathan Fye (R) is an unknown quantity, and nothing on his website directly addresses abortion. Please ask him to contact CRTL. Randy Fischer (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 54

Jared Wright (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. Tim Menger (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 55

Rep. Ray Scott (R) is 100% pro-life and supports Personhood, responding correctly to all questions on the survey. Dan Robinson’s (D) position on abortion is unclear. Virgil Fenn (L) is pro-abortion, and Planned Parenthood (PPVotesColorado.org) took the extraordinary step of endorsing Fenn, rather than the Democrat, in this race.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Dave Rose (D) is pro-abortion. Will Hiltscher (L) opposes abortion except for rape/incest, but that is not a truly pro-life position.

State House District 57

Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, and has not in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life. Jo Ann Baxter (D) is pro-abortion. Dan Enright (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 58

Don Coram (R) has never responded to the CRTL survey, even after 3 contacts. Please encourage him to contact us. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. No information is available for Tammy Theis (D) or Jeff Downs (L), but both are presumed to be pro-abortion as candidates from their parties usually are.

State House District 59

J. Paul Brown (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to contact us. Pier Cohen (D) is pro-abortion. Curtis Imrie (U) and Bruce Waters (L) are also presumed to be pro-abortion (Imrie was a Democrat candidate for many years).

State House District 61

Robert Petrowsky (ACP) is 100% pro-life, and supports Personhood, responding correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. Debra Irvine (R) is an unknown quantity, has not responded to the CRTL survey, and does not address abortion on her website. We must presume she is not pro-life. Millie Hamner (D) and Kathleen Curry (U) are pro-abortion. Ellen Temby (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 62

Tim Walters (R) is an unknown quantity, and his stands on abortion are unclear. Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 63

Lori Saine (R) may be pro-life, but still needs to establish her particular positions with CRTL. Her support of Personhood is in question. Tim Erickson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 64

Tim Dore (R) is pro-life, and supports Personhood, having responded to the CRTL survey with 8 out of 9 correct answers. We will continue to work with him on his support for compromised anti-abortion regulations (which some pro-life legal scholars believe legitimizes abortion and doesn’t treat the unborn child as a Person). Nick Schneider (L) is probably pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 65

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded favorably to previous CRTL surveys. Please ask him to contact us so we can establish for sure that he’s still with us.

**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Most Democrats who entered early in the race were sent a copy of the survey in February and will be contacted again before the November election. Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey may contact office@coloradorighttolife.org for a copy.

Candidate Positions - Pre-Primary June 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:05:00 +0000

Note: 2014 Candidate Survey information (The information below is obsolete - from 2012)

Note to readers: Several updates have already been applied as new surveys have come in - please check back immediately before voting to see if your candidates have replied.

UPDATE 6/12 - We've added a special note about Rep. Amy Stephens, who still says she's pro-life but her commitments and leadership on pro-life issues have been lacking at the Capitol or in her official duties.

The 2012 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 9 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on government mandates such as the HHS rule that would force pro-life doctors and pharmacists to prescribe abortifacients, fetal homicide legislation, taxpayer funding of abortions, the protection of unborn children under the 5th and 14th Amendments, whether they believe in exceptions to allow abortions for rape or incest, their position on the Personhood Amendment, beliefs about euthanasia, beliefs about medical experiments that destroy a developing human being, and their position on whether it is sometimes okay to compromise in order to save some lives even though the compromise undermines the principle of a Right to Life (i.e. are anti-abortion regulations helping or hurting the fight to establish rights for all unborn children?).

No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they support the Personhood amendment and have pledged to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors). This is the only position consistent with the inalienable Right to Life of every innocent human being at every age or stage of development. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Congressional Candidates

Everyone wants to claim they’re pro-life if it benefits them. Often those claims are mere words.

There are two Republican Congressional primaries where one candidate is a demonstrated pro-life voter who supports the Personhood standard and Personhood legislation.

Congressional District 2

There is no reason to believe Eric Weissman (R-Boulder) is pro-life. However, his opponent in the primary, Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) is pro-life and has been an ally of the pro-life movement for many years, has endorsed and signed petitions for all of Colorado’s Personhood Amendments.

Congressional District 5

There is a seemingly needless primary in CD 5 between Robert Blaha, who according to his website may support a Personhood standard (we do not have information to confirm this), but who may or may not be sincere. He is running against Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) who is 100% pro-life and who not only supports Personhood on paper, but also has cosponsored Personhood legislation at the federal level. This is a major sign of commitment that Lamborn has been the most outspoken of all of Colorado’s Congressional delegation on this issue.

State Senate Candidates

State Senate District 4

Mark Scheffel (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to support Personhood. Please ask him to return his survey.

State Senate District 8

Rep. Randy Baumgardner (R) is 100% pro-life with no exceptions, and supports Personhood. He has responded to the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered correctly. He is facing Sen. Jean White (R), who is known to be pro-choice, in the primary.

State Senate District 10

Owen Hill (R) is pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 8 out of 9 questions answered correctly (he still believes anti-abortion regulations are helpful, but is willing to listen further about how they undermine the Right to Life). He is in a primary with Rep. Larry Liston (R) who has never returned a CRTL survey, but who was the ONLY Republican in 2010 to respond to the Planned Parenthood survey, where he expressed support for taxpayer-funded abortion and opposed the Personhood of the unborn child. Liston also voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill). Update 6/6: Larry Liston exposed as taking both sides of Planned Parenthood funding and other key pro-life issues (i.e. he's lying).

State Senate District 12

Sen. Bill Cadman (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered appropriately.

State Senate District 14

Syndi Anderson (R) has been contacted multiple times, but has not returned her CRTL survey. Her website has no indication that she is pro-life, nor do we have any other information to suggest she is.

State Senate District 17

Charlie Plagainos (R) is an unknown quantity. He has been contacted at least once, and has not returned his CRTL survey. His website has no indication that he is pro-life. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State Senate District 18

Barry Thoma (R) responded to the CRTL survey without answering questions. He claimed to be opposed to Roe v. Wade, but indicated he wasn’t sure when unborn children should be protected under the law. He may believe he is pro-life, but he does not understand the issues at all. He appears to be pro-abortion with exceptions.

State Senate District 19

Lang Sias (R) has called himself pro-life, but has been contacted several times during 2010 and 2012 and has never answered a CRTL survey. His credentials and commitments are suspect. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State Senate District 21

UPDATE 6/19: Francine Bigelow (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and answered correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. We have not heard from Matthew Plichta, and must assume he is not pro-life.

State Senate District 22

Ken Summers (R), despite being a former pastor, Summers is NOT pro-life. He has voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill), and has responded angrily when asked about pro-life measures.

State Senate District 23

Vicki Marble (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood and answered 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey correctly. She is in a primary contest against Rep. Glenn Vaad (R). Vaad signed the Personhood petition in 2010, but may have done so without conviction, as he has shown little other sign that he is pro-life and has never returned a CRTL survey. Vaad also voted for the conscience-violating “emergency contraception” measure. UPDATE 6/8: On the Christian Coalition survey, Glenn Vaad apparently indicated he supports Personhood (he did sign a Personhood petition in previous years). However, to validate this he needs to answer the CRTL survey, which has specific wording meant to prevent wiggle room. Obviously, since his opponent is already rated 100% pro-life it would be in his interest to do so.

State Senate District 25

John Sampson (R) claims to be pro-life, but he has been contacted multiple times, and has not returned his CRTL survey. His website has no indication that he is pro-life. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. The only thing we know about him is that he will not support the Personhood Amendment, or discuss the issue further.

State Senate District 26

David Kerber (R) has never even claimed to be pro-life. He has not answered the CRTL survey even after multiple contacts and has refused to sign the Personhood petition. Kerber is NOT pro-life.

State Senate District 27

Rep. Dave Balmer (R) has expressed strong pro-life commitments and is pro-Personhood, but has not returned his CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so.

State Senate District 28

Art Carlson (R) and John Lyons (R) are in a primary against each other. Both claim to be pro-life, but neither has responded to the CRTL survey even after numerous contacts. They are not believed to support Personhood. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who claim to be pro-life but who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State Senate District 29

Bill Ross (R) has been contacted twice and has not responded to the CRTL survey. We have no information to indicate he is pro-life. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State Senate District 31

Brandon Kelley (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State Senate District 32

Roger Logan is a recent entrant as a Republican candidate. Nothing is known about him and he does not appear to have a website. If you could put him in touch with us, or if you know anything about him, please let us know.

State Senate District 33

Jason DeBerry is a recent entrant as a Republican candidate. Nothing is known about him and he does not appear to have a website. If you could put him in touch with us, or if you know anything about him, please let us know.

State Senate District 35

Larry Crowder (R) has been contacted twice through his website about the CRTL survey but still has not responded. If you know please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House Candidates

State House District 1

There is a primary between two Republicans, James Wildt and John Kidd. Please ask them to return their candidate surveys.

State House District 2

If you know TJ Tyrrell (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 3

If you know Brian Watson (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 4

David Dobson (R-Denver) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and answered the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. Update 6/11 - Dobson has a primary against Stuart Siffring, who we don't believe is pro-life.

State House District 5

If you know Ronnie Nelson (R) or Matthew Zielinski (R), please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 6

Robert Hardaway (R) is a recent entrant and nothing is known about him. Please ask him to contact CRTL.

State House District 7

If you know Travis French (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 8

If you know Alan Johnson (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 9

If you know Celeste Gamache (R) please encourage her to contact CRTL.

State House District 10

If you know William Eckert (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 11

We have not heard from Ellyn Hilliard (R) despite 3 attempts to contact her. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State House District 12

If you know Russ Lyman (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 13

If you know Adam Ochs (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has no opposition. He has been an aide to pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn, and has also been associated with the pro-life Republican Study Committee, so we assume he is inclined to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 15

American Constitution Party candidate Michael Edstrom is presumably pro-life, but please encourage him to contact us. Rep. Mark Waller (R) claims to be pro-life, but has not supported Personhood, and is not believed to be truly pro-life.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life on his site, but his support of Personhood is unknown. He was very cooperative with CRTL in pushing a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure through the legislature this year – the first time one passed either chamber of the Colorado legislature (it failed in the Senate a couple of weeks ago). He is also associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.

State House District 17

UPDATE 6/14: Mark Barker (R) is pro-life and supports Personhood. He responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, and this year he indicated his positions have not changed and will not. Barry Forest Pace (ACP) is also presumably pro-life. Please encourage both to return their 2012 survey – we need to confirm both candidates’ commitments.

State House District 18

Jennifer George (R) may or may not be pro-life. The American Constitution Party has a candidate, Amy Fedde, who is presumably pro-life. Please encourage both to return their surveys.

State House District 19

This is one of the most fascinating races in the legislature this year. Rep. Amy Stephens (R – House Majority Leader) is being challenged by Rep. Marsha Looper (R) who were redistricted into the same district together. Rep. Marsha Looper (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and returned the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. Looper also helped lead a fight to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the State budget. Looper is framing this as a conservative vs. moderate fight, and so far as CRTL can tell she’s entirely correct.

Stephens used to work for Focus on the Family, but she also used to work in the abortion industry. With rare exceptions, she has remained silent and disinterested in pro-life issues in the past 6 years at the Capitol, except when she sponsored a bill to silence pro-life protestors exercising their rights to free speech on public sidewalks. She enabled Obamacare, and its taxpayer-paid abortion provisions, by sponsoring HB-200. After 3 attempts to contact her in 2012 (and at least a dozen, total, since 2008), CRTL is very concerned that Stephens is a FAKE pro-lifer. Update 6/12: See "Special Note About Amy Stephens" at the bottom of this blog post for more information.

Tim Biolchini (ACP) is also presumably pro-life. Please encourage Stephens and Biolchini to return their CRTL surveys.

State House District 20

Rep. Bob Gardner (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and also supported the conscience-violating “emergency contraceptive” legislation which forces pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide the abortion-causing “morning after pill.” Gardner is NOT pro-life. Donna Burdick (ACP) is presumably pro-life. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 21

A rare “can’t lose” situation. Al Sweet (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood and responded correctly to 9 of 9 questions. Lois Landgraf (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 of 9 questions.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 of 9 questions. He is being challenged in the primary by Loren Bauman (R) who is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Rick Enstrom (R) has failed to respond to 3 attempts to contact him, and has not returned his survey. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State House District 24

E.V. Leyendecker (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 25

Cheri Gerou (R) is NOT regarded as pro-life. She has never responded to a CRTL survey and is considered an unreliable vote on even the least of pro-life votes.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 27

Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 28

Amy Attwood (R) is probably pro-life, but we have asked her for a survey response 3 times so that we can establish this, and she still has not responded. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 29

Robert Ramirez (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey to make sure he’s still with us.

State House District 30

If this is the same person who ran for Congress (CD7) in 2010, Mike Sheely (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 31

Beth Humenik (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Please ask her to contact us.

State House District 32

Paul Reimer (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 33

David Pigott (R) has failed to respond to 3 attempts to contact him, and has not returned his survey. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State House District 34

Jodina Widhalm (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Please ask her to contact us.

State House District 35

Brian Vande Krol (R) is pro-abortion (he was mis-identified in 2010 as pro-Personhood, but set the record straight with a reporter that he supports “a woman’s right to choose”).

State House District 36

Jim Parker (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 37

Rep. Spencer Swalm (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey, being approached more than 6 times over 6 years time, and supported the conscience-violating "emergency contraception" mandate in the legislature. His commitment to pro-life issues is doubtful.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.

State House District 39

This primary seems on its surface to be a contest between two pro-lifers. Both Polly Lawrence (R) and Lu Ann Busse (R) are pro-life, and have expressed support for Personhood. Polly Lawrence answered correctly on 9 of 9 questions, Lu Ann Busse responded correctly on 8 of 9, with a reservation on opposing anti-abortion regulations which she believes are a worthwhile compromise, but which CRTL believes undermine the concept of a Right to Life. On paper, Polly Lawrence seems the better pro-lifer, but Lu Ann Busse has the stronger long-term record in supporting life issues. In 2010, Polly Lawrence refused to support Personhood and may have expressed other positions inconsistent with her positions on the 2012 survey. It is our hope that she has sincerely changed her positions, and would support Personhood positions in the legislature, but ultimately this comes down to whether an individual voter trusts her change of heart. The survey can only record a candidate’s promises, and cannot read their minds or hearts.

State House District 40

Cynthia Acree (R) is believed to be pro-life, but she has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to do so.

State House District 41

Adrienne Webb-Markopolous (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Please ask her to contact us. There is also Independent Maria Fay, who we know nothing about.

State House District 42

Update 6/4: Michael Donald (R) is 100% pro-life and supports Personhood, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions on the survey. Democrat Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has become very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts.

State House District 43

Speaker Frank McNulty (R) has said in the past he supports Personhood, but he has taken action as leader of the House Republicans which cast doubt upon his commitment to taking pro-life action. He has never responded to a CRTL survey. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State House District 44

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. He has also become a stand-out leader of the pro-life legislators in the House.

State House District 45

Rep. Carole Murray (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to return her survey.

State House District 46

Jerry Denney (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 47

Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Please ask her to contact us. Candidate Ray Watts (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly, but has apparently lost at the district assembly and will not be on the ballot.

State House District 48

Both Stephen Humphrey (R) and Jeffrey Hare (R) are pro-life and support Personhood. Hare responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. Humphrey, with 8 of 9 questions answered correctly (again not agreeing with CRTL’s position against anti-abortion regulations which undermine the concept of a Right to Life).

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions. Please ask her to contact us.

State House District 50

Arthur “Skip” Carlson (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) is believed to support Personhood, but we have not heard from him. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 52

Bob Morain (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 53

Jonathan Fye (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 54

UPDATE 6/8: Jared Wright (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the survey.

State House District 55

Update 6/4: Rep. Ray Scott (R) is 100% pro-life and supports Personhood, responding correctly to all questions on the survey. There is also Virgil Fenn (Libertarian) who may or may not be pro-life (most Libertarians are not). Please encourage both to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so.

State House District 57

Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, and has not in 2012, even after 3 contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life (his defeated opponent in the primary was not either). Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 58

Don Coram (R) has never responded to the CRTL survey, even after 3 contacts. Please encourage him to contact us. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites.

State House District 59

J. Paul Brown (R) is 100% pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey.

State House District 60

Steve Collins (R) is pro-life, and supports Personhood, responding correctly to 8 of the 9 questions, and answering favorably to the 9th (opposing anti-abortion regulations) with a minor reservation. It sounds like he will work with CRTL to avoid compromised legislation. James Wilson (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to contact us.

State House District 61

Robert Petrowsky (ACP) is 100% pro-life, and supports Personhood, responding correctly to 9 out of 9 questions on the CRTL survey. Debra Irvine (R) and David Justice (R) both need to contact CRTL to establish their positions. Please ask them to contact us.

State House District 62

Tim Walters (R) needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 63

Lori Saine (R) appears to be pro-life, but still needs to establish her particular positions with CRTL. She is in contact with CRTL and we will report on her positions once we have established them. Michael Mazzocco (R) is running as a write-in candidate but needs to contact CRTL to establish his positions. Please ask him to contact us.

State House District 64

Tim Dore (R) is pro-life, and supports Personhood, having responded to the CRTL survey with 8 out of 9 correct answers. We will continue to work with him on his support for compromised anti-abortion regulations (which some pro-life legal scholars believe legitimizes abortion and doesn’t treat the unborn child as a Person).

State House District 65

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded favorably to previous CRTL surveys. Please ask him to contact us so we can establish for sure that he’s still with us.

**Special Note About Rep. Amy Stephens

Rep. Amy Stephens is trying to campaign as a pro-lifer in a conservative district against another conservative Republican, Rep. Marsha Looper, in the same district. CRTL has claimed Stephens is questionably pro-life, based on 6 years of observation where she has shown little to no sign of being pro-life. Stephens, needing pro-life votes, is fighting back against this impression, belatedly trying to sound like she is an active pro-lifer, and as if constituents can expect her to "continue" pro-life leadership in her 7th and 8th years in the legislature when she hasn't shown any such initiative in her first 6. Here are several reasons why we do not believe Amy Stephens is pro-life:

1) Rep. Amy Stephens collaborated with the Obamacare structure by jointly authoring and sponsoring SB 200 with Democrat Sen. Betty Boyd -- one of the most pro-abortion legislators in Colorado. SB 200 would have implemented the terms of Obamacare by setting up a statewide healthcare exchange. This was done at a time when the state Attorney General and thousands of other officials around the US were trying to prevent implementation of Obamacare by means of non-collaboration, lawsuits and stonewalling. Stephens could have added an opt-out option, but refused to do so, and also refused to support other legislation that would have opted Colorado out of the Obamacare structure. Obamacare includes as part of its requirements taxpayer funding for abortions and abortifacient birth control.

2) Stephens claims to be pro-life, and has a list of endorsers who say she's pro-life, but all of them point to her service at Focus on the Family from more than a decade ago, and not to more recent initiatives or action. To the best of our knowledge, she has never either sponsored or voted for a pro-life bill while in the legislature. If she had, wouldn't it be on her website?

3) If Stephens is pro-life, why didn't she respond to any of the Colorado Right to Life surveys, in 2008, 2010 or 2012? Why avoid your pro-life allies? Most pro-life representatives responded to the survey at least once during those several years. Most pro-life representatives wanted to be on record as supporting the Personhood Amendment. Stephens never wanted to be on record with CRTL.

4) Stephens also refused to answer the Pikes Peak Citizens for Life survey in both 2010 and 2012. They do not consider candidates pro-life if they do not answer the survey. This is the most prominent local pro-life group in Colorado Springs -- why would she not want to be on record with them?

5) Stephens also refused to answer the Colorado Christian Coalition survey in 2012. This is another well-known and nationally connected family values group -- why would she not want to be on record with them, especially in a year when she faces conservative opposition from Looper?

6) NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Stephens a 67% rating in 2008.

7) Stephens claims she's never seen Rep. Looper "at a pro-life rally, fundraising dinner, seminar, strategy meeting, or training session." This is ironic, since none of us has ever seen Stephens at any of these activities either! It's possible she's attended such things in Colorado Springs, but nothing at the Captiol or any statewide pro-life marches, meetings, fundraising dinners, etc. How could she see Looper at one if SHE wasn't there? If Stephens attended these rallies or meetings, are there photos? Why wouldn't she post evidence if it exists?

8) The Colorado Springs Independent once published a story saying Rep. Amy Stephens had attended the 2009 Colorado March for Life, but later issued a correction saying they were mistaken: "Correction: State Rep. Amy Stephens was misidentified in the original publication of this story as having attended the rally. She did not. The Colorado Independent deeply regrets the error." Why would the Independent even issue a correction if Amy Stephens had not asked for one? Why would she not want to be associated with the March for Life?

9) Stephens cosponsored a bill to silence pro-life protestors and prevent them from exercising free speech on public sidewalks. This was specifically a reaction against a pro-life tactic of "shaming" abortion doctors, executives, and construction executives who built abortion facilities. This tactic was used effectively by anti-slavery activists to shame pro-slavery merchants in front of the public, so people would know they had blood on their hands.

**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Most Democrats who entered early in the race were sent a copy of the survey in February and will be contacted again before the November election. Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey may contact office@coloradorighttolife.org for a copy.

More Anti-Family Legislation

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:25:00 +0000

This is not a "pro-life" issue, but most pro-life citizens are also concerned about the institution of marriage, and it's clear that the strength of the family is inversely related to the rate of abortion. Please take action if you are so inclined.

The House Judiciary Committee will be voting on SB12-002(civil unions) Thursday (May 3).

One of our allied organizations, Colorado for Family Values, has a petition online that will automatically send an e-mail to members of the Judiciary Committee asking them to vote NO on civil unions. Only takes 30 seconds to fill out.

http://www.coloradoforfamilyvalues.org/action_email.html

Please help spread the word.

State House Candidates - April 2012 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:40:00 +0000

NOTE: This entire blog has been superseded by a more current June Pre-Primary Candidate Positions blog.

The color of the text has been subdued to indicate it is obsolete.

The 2012 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 9 position questions of candidates, ranging from funding for Planned Parenthood to abortion to euthanasia. The survey and the comments here are based on one, simple definition: No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they have pledged to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors). This is the only position consistent with the inalienable Right to Life of every innocent human being at every age or stage of development. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Additionally, we expect that they will support Colorado's Personhood Amendment. The 9^th question has to do with opposing regulations which undermine the concept of an inalienable Right to Life. We understand that some sincere pro-life candidates do not agree that the compromise and contradictions inherent in “pro-life regulations” are unacceptable.

This blog covers only state legislative races, not Congressional contenders. Due to the late redrafting of district borders and the possibility that candidates may still petition onto the ballot, many of these races are still not settled. There have been two-dozen new Republican candidates declared in the past month or so, and several American Constitution Party and other candidates have also declared in recent weeks. Many of them have not had time to respond to surveys. If you know any candidate not mentioned here, please ask them to return their survey or contact CRTL for a copy.

(UPDATE 5/1) These records refer to those who responded to our survey answering correctly to 9 of 9 questions as "100% pro-life", because they understand (on paper, at least) the full meaning of Personhood and the Right to Life (which are essentially the same). If there is a Right to Life for innocent people, there can be no exceptions, nor can such a Right be frittered away through compromise legislation.

By contrast, those who respond to 8 of 9 questions correctly are labeled as "pro-life" if their reservation was on question 9, regarding compromised anti-abortion regulations which are intended to "save some babies" but which imply there is no such thing in law as a Right to Life. The "pro-life" label indicates they are sincerely pro-life, and have indicated they oppose all abortions. However, they fundamentally misunderstand the concept of a Right to Life, or else they would not be willing to support legislation that suggests it is the government's role to determine which innocent lives can be taken away, and which cannot.

State House District 1

There is a primary between James Wildt (R) and John Kidd (R). Please ask them to return their candidate surveys.

State House District 2

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know TJ Tyrrell (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 3

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Brian Watson (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 4

Two candidates who may be pro-life have recently entered the race. If you know Stuart Siffring or David Dobson please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 5

Two candidates who may be pro-life have recently entered the race. If you know Ronnie Nelson (R) or Matthew Zielinski (R), please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 6

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 7

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Travis French (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 8

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Alan Johnson (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 9

If you know Robert Lane (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 10

No candidates that appear to be pro-life.

State House District 11

We have not heard from Ellyn Hilliard (R) – if you know her please ask her to contact CRTL.

State House District 12

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Russ Lyman (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 13

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Adam Ochs (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has no opposition. He has been an aide to pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn, and has also been associated with the pro-life Republican Study Committee, so we assume he is inclined to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 15

American Constitution Party candidate Michael Edstrom is presumably pro-life, but please encourage him to contact us. Rep. Mark Waller (R) claims to be pro-life, but has not supported Personhood, and is generally considered a fence-sitter on pro-life issues.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life on his site, but his support of Personhood is unknown. He was very cooperative with CRTL in pushing a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure through the legislature this year – the first time one passed either chamber of the Colorado legislature (it failed in the Senate a couple of weeks ago). We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.

State House District 17

Mark Barker (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, but we have not heard from him this year. Barry Forest Pace (ACP) is also presumably pro-life. Please encourage both to return their 2012 survey – we need to confirm both candidates’ commitments.

State House District 18

Jennifer George (R) may or may not be pro-life. The American Constitution Party has a candidate, Amy Fedde, who is presumably pro-life. Please encourage both to return their surveys.

State House District 19

This is one of the most fascinating races in the legislature this year. Rep. Amy Stephens (R – House Majority Leader) is being challenged by Rep. Marsha Looper (R) who were redistricted into the same district together. Looper is framing this as a conservative vs. moderate fight, and so far as CRTL can tell she’s entirely correct. Stephens used to work for Focus on the Family, but she also used to work in the abortion industry. With rare exceptions, she has remained silent and disinterested in pro-life issues in the past, and even sponsored a bill to silence pro-life protestors. Rep. Marsha Looper (R) is 100% pro-life, returned the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly, and helped lead a fight to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the State budget. Rep. Amy Stephens has never returned a CRTL survey, and there is no reason to believe she is pro-life. She also enabled Obamacare, and its taxpayer-paid abortion provisions, by sponsoring HB-200. Tim Biolchini (ACP) is also presumably pro-life. Please encourage Stephens and Biolchini to return their CRTL surveys.

State House District 20

Rep. Bob Gardner (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and also supported the conscience-violating “emergency contraceptive” legislation which forces pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide the abortion-causing “morning after pill.” He is not pro-life. Donna Burdick (ACP) is presumably pro-life. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 21

A rare “can’t lose” situation. Al Sweet (R) is 100% pro-life, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions. Lois Landgraf (R) is 100% pro-life, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) is 100% pro-life, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions. Loren Bauman (R) is apparently not pro-life.

State House District 23

Rick Enstrom (R) may be pro-life, but the degree of his commitment has not been established. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 24

E.V. Leyendecker (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 25

Cheri Gerou (R) is not regarded as pro-life. She has never responded to a CRTL survey and is considered an unreliable vote on even the least of pro-life votes.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 27

Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 28

Amy Attwood (R) is probably pro-life, but we need to establish this. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 29

Robert Ramirez (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey to make sure he’s still with us.

State House District 30

If this is the same person who ran for Congress (CD7) in 2010, Mike Sheely (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 31

Beth Humenik (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 32

Paul Reimer (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 33

David Pigott (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 34

Jodina Widhalm (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 35

Brian Vande Krol (R) is pro-abortion.

State House District 36

Neither Robert Martinez (R) nor Jim Parker (R) have responded to the CRTL survey (and in fact we can’t find either candidate’s contact info). Please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 37

Rep. Spencer Swalm (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey, is very resistant to CRTL, and supported the conscience-violating "emergency contraception" mandate in the legislature. His commitment is very much in doubt.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). We do not consider her pro-life. She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.

State House District 39

This is a somewhat weird Republican primary. Polly Lawrence did not respond to CRTL’s survey when she ran in 2010, and was at that time regarded as not pro-life (CRTL cannot read candidates’ minds – if they evade answering tough questions, it is easy to assume they don’t agree with you). However, Polly Lawrence (R) has in 2012 responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly, and is apparently 100% pro-life.
(UPDATE 5/1) Lu Ann Busse (R) is pro-life, answering correctly to 8 of the 9 questions on the CRTL survey.

This race effectively illustrates the danger of not responding to the CRTL survey – if you are pro-life, don’t keep it a secret from us!

State House District 40

Cynthia Acree (R) is believed to be pro-life, but she has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to do so.

State House District 41

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Adrienne Webb-Markopolous (R) please encourage her to contact CRTL. There is also Independent Maria Fay, who we know nothing about.

State House District 42

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Michael Donald (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL. Democrat Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has become very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts.

State House District 43

Speaker Frank McNulty (R) has said in the past he supports Personhood, but he has taken action as leader of the House Republicans which cast doubt upon his commitment to taking pro-life action.

State House District 44

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. He has also become a stand-out leader of the pro-life legislators in the House.

State House District 45

Rep. Carole Murray (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to return her survey.

State House District 46

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Jerry Denney (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 47

Ray Watts (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly. However, it is unclear whether he will make it on the primary ballot after a loss at the district assembly. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to contact us.

State House District 48

Jeffrey Hare (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly.
(UPDATE 5/1): Stephen Humphrey (R) is pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 8 of 9 questions answered correctly, and having a reservation on question 9, regarding compromise regulations which may "save some lives" but which also undermine the concept of a Right to Life in law. If he is the nominee, we will continue to work with him on this issue.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to do so.

State House District 50

Arthur “Skip” Carlson (R) may be pro-life, but has not returned his CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) is believed to support Personhood, but we have not heard from him. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State House District 52

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Bob Morain (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 53

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Jonathan Fye (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 54

Two candidates who may be pro-life have recently entered the race. If you know John Price (R) or Jared Wright (R) please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 55

Rep. Ray Scott (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, but we have not yet heard from him this year. There is also Virgil Fenn (Libertarian) who may or may not be pro-life (most Libertarians are not). Please encourage both to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) says he is pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so.

State House District 57

Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, and has not in 2012. It is believed he is not pro-life (his defeated opponent in the primary was not either). Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 58

Don Coram (R) may or may not be pro-life. He has never responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to contact us.

State House District 59

J. Paul Brown (R) spoke out in favor of Personhood in 2010, and he has indicated he will respond to the CRTL survey this year.

State House District 60

Steve Collins (R) is pro-life, responding correctly to 8 of the 9 questions, and answering favorably to the 9^th (opposing anti-abortion regulations) with a minor reservation. It sounds like he will work with CRTL to avoid compromised legislation. James Wilson (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to contact us.

State House District 61

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know David Justice (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL. Robert Petrowsky (ACP) is presumably pro-life but we need to hear from him.

State House District 62

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Tim Walters (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 63

Lori Saine (R) claims to be pro-life, but responded to CRTL merely that she believes “life begins at conception,” which is entirely inadequate (John McCain claimed the same, but believed in taxpayer-funded murder of unborn embryos for research purposes). If you know Lori, please encourage her to establish her bona fides in detail to set herself apart from other Republicans who try to be vague, with evasive responses that commit to nothing. It is unclear whether Gene Stille (R) or Bruce Sparrow (R) are still in the race. There is also a write-in candidate, Michael Mazzocco. If these people are still running, please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 64

Tim Dore (R) is pro-life, having responded to the CRTL survey with 8 out of 9 correct answers, providing a contradictory answer to #9. We will continue to work with him on his support for compromised anti-abortion regulations (which some pro-life legal scholars believe legitimizes abortion and doesn’t treat the unborn child as a Person).

State House District 65

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded favorably to previous CRTL surveys. Please ask him to contact us so we can establish for sure that he’s still with us.

**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Most Democrats who entered early in the race were sent a copy of the survey in February. Though more recent entrants have not, they are welcome to contact CRTL to answer the survey.

State Senate Candidates - April 2012 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:38:00 +0000

NOTE: The information in this blog has been superseded by a more current June Pre-Primary Candidate Positions blog.

The color of the text has been subdued to indicate it is obsolete.

The 2012 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 9 position questions of candidates, ranging from funding for Planned Parenthood to abortion to euthanasia. The survey and the comments here are based on one, simple definition: No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they have pledged to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors). This is the only position consistent with the inalienable Right to Life of every innocent human being at every age or stage of development. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Additionally, we expect that they will support Colorado's Personhood Amendment. The 9th question has to do with opposing regulations which undermine the concept of an inalienable Right to Life. We understand that some sincere pro-life candidates do not agree that the compromise and contradictions inherent in “pro-life regulations” are unacceptable.

This blog covers only state legislative races, not Congressional contenders. Due to the late redrafting of district borders and the possibility that candidates may still petition onto the ballot, many of these races are still not settled. There have been two-dozen new Republican candidates declared in the past month or so, and several American Constitution Party and other candidates have also declared in recent weeks. Many of them have not had time to respond to surveys. If you know any candidate not mentioned here, please ask them to return their survey or contact CRTL for a copy.

(UPDATE 5/1) These records refer to those who responded to our survey answering correctly to 9 of 9 questions as "100% pro-life", because they understand (on paper, at least) the full meaning of Personhood and the Right to Life (which are essentially the same). If there is a Right to Life for innocent people, there can be no exceptions, nor can such a Right be frittered away through compromise legislation.

By contrast, those who respond to 8 of 9 questions correctly are labeled as "pro-life" if their reservation was on question 9, regarding compromised anti-abortion regulations which are intended to "save some babies" but which imply there is no such thing in law as a Right to Life. The "pro-life" label indicates they are sincerely pro-life, and have indicated they oppose all abortions. However, they fundamentally misunderstand the concept of a Right to Life, or else they would not be willing to support legislation that suggests it is the government's role to determine which innocent lives can be taken away, and which cannot.

State Senate District 4

Mark Scheffel (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to support Personhood. Please ask him to return his survey.

State Senate District 8

No candidates have returned the CRTL survey, but Rep. Randy Baumgardner (R) is facing Sen. Jean White (R) in a primary. Baumgardner responded pro-Personhood in 2010, and White is known to be pro-choice.

State Senate District 10

(**updated 4/24) Owen Hill (R) is pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 8 of 9 questions answered correctly (he is willing to dialogue about the 9th question, regarding non-support of anti-abortion regulations). He is in a primary with Rep. Larry Liston (R) who has never returned a CRTL survey, and is thought to be indifferent to pro-life issues. Liston also voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill).

State Senate District 12

Sen. Bill Cadman (R) is 100% Pro-Life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered correctly.

State Senate District 14

Syndi Anderson (R) is probably pro-life but we cannot confirm this, or whether she opposes all abortion. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.

State Senate District 17

A new candidate who may be pro-life has entered the race. If you know Charlie Plagainos, please ask him to contact CRTL.

State Senate District 18

A new candidate who may be pro-life has entered the race. If you know Barry Thoma, please ask him to contact CRTL.

State Senate District 19

Lang Sias (R) has called himself pro-life, but has never answered a CRTL survey, and his credentials and commitments are suspect. Please ask him to return his survey.

State Senate District 21

Two new candidates may be pro-life. If you know Francine Bigelow or Matthew Plichta, please ask them to contact CRTL.

State Senate District 22

Ken Summers (R), despite being a former pastor, is NOT pro-life. He has voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill), and has responded angrily when asked about pro-life measures.

State Senate District 23

(**updated 4/26) Vicki Marble (R) is 100% Pro-Life, supports Personhood, and answered the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered correctly. She is in a primary contest against Rep. Glenn Vaad (R). Vaad signed the Personhood petition in 2010, but may have done so without conviction, as he has shown little other sign that he is pro-life and has never returned a CRTL survey. Vaad also voted for the conscience-violating “emergency contraception” measure.

State Senate District 25

John Sampson (R) claims to be pro-life, but his level of commitment and support for Personhood is unclear. He has not returned the CRTL survey, and seems to have doubts about the Personhood strategy. Please encourage him to support Personhood and to return the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 26

David Kerber (R) shows no sign of being pro-life. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State Senate District 27

Rep. Dave Balmer (R) has expressed strong pro-life commitments and is pro-Personhood, but has not returned his CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so.

State Senate District 28

Art Carlson (R) and John Lyons (R) are in a primary against each other. Both claim to be pro-life, but neither has responded to the CRTL survey, and the depth of their commitment is in question. Either or both may be 100% pro-life, but from conversations this has remained unclear.

State Senate District 29

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Bill Ross (R) please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State Senate District 31

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Brandon Kelley (R) please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

State Senate District 35

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Larry Crowder (R) please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.

*** Please note: The fact that the candidates listed above are mostly Republicans is not meant to convey the idea that Republicans are necessarily all pro-life or that the only pro-life candidates are Republicans. In many cases (some noted) this is not at all true. However, we are unaware of any Democrats who are legitimately pro-life. Many Democrats were sent the survey, but only a couple responded with unfavorable comments. The candidates of the American Constitution Party are presumably all pro-life, as it's part of the party platform and screening process, but most are newly declared and have not had time to return surveys. They will be noted in future updates.

The Case Against Planned Parenthood

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:55:00 +0000

In the background of the legislative debate over Planned Parenthood funding in Colorado, one thing is clear. Planned Parenthood seems very willing to break the law.

In the General Assembly debate over the budget, Republicans say no funding should go to abortion provider Planned Parenthood, while Democrats insist they should be funded with taxpayer dollars.

The fact is, what the Democrats suggest is illegal -- unconstitutional. And that's just the beginning of the questions the people of Colorado should be asking about Planned Parenthood and how they're skirting -- or violating -- the law in so many ways.

1. ILLEGAL TAXPAYER FUNDING

In 1984, Colorado voters passed Amendment 3, prohibiting "direct or indirect" taxpayer funding of organizations which perform abortions. In 1988, Colorado voters rejected a reversal of this constitutional amendment. So twice, Colorado voters have said they don't want their tax dollars funding abortion -- they felt so strongly about this that they wrote the prohibition into the Colorado Constitution!

Planned Parenthood has since created a subsidiary to get around the funding ban -- one organization does abortions, and the "taxpayer funded" one doesn't. But they still share costs for facilities, management, various other overhead. It's still taxpayer money going "indirectly" to fund abortions, even if they are theoretically separate, so it's still illegal. Democrat governors in Colorado have ignored the Constitution and provided funding anyway. Never forget, money is fungible.

2. ILLEGAL NON-REPORTING OF SEXUAL ABUSE

In 2002 and 2003, Texas-based Life Dynamics conducted a sting investigation covering every Planned Parenthood clinic in the country, including 27 in Colorado. They found that Planned Parenthood was systematically covering up incest and child predators. The exhaustive evidence can be listened to at "www.childpredators.com", where transcripts are also available.

Colorado, like most other states, requires health care officials to report suspected sexual abuse to the authorities. When older men bring a girl for an abortion -- someone young enough to be their daughter -- without a mother present, it is suspicious. Perhaps not all, but surely some of these cases are fathers who want to cover up that they're having sex with their own daughters. Yet, there is no evidence that Planned Parenthood has ever reported these cases, as they are required to by law.

3. ILLEGAL COLLABORATION WITH CHILD PROSTITUTION

Live Action sting: prolifeaction.org/hotline/2011/ppnewjersey/

4. ILLEGAL VIOLATIONS OF STATE LAWS

Live Action: http://liveaction.org/mona-lisa/phoenix-az

5. ILLEGAL ABETTING OF HATE CRIMES

Live Action:

► 1:28► 1:28

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1eNLoUwQEk

(racist donations)

Pro-Life Candidates (October Update - Colorado 2010)

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:52:00 +0000

This list supersedes ALL previous lists and comments. Our position on some candidates has changed, due to new information or recent behavior (or misbehavior!).

Colorado Right to Life's candidate survey and comments here are based on one, simple definition: No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they have pledged never to support any policy or law that would allow the killing of even one child.

Additionally, we expect that they will support Amendment 62, Colorado's Personhood Amendment. If they do not, this is noted. In practice, these two positions (Personhood and the definition of pro-life above) are one and the same. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Candidates who we consider 100% Pro-Life will be listed in Bold (Note: Scott Tipton's and Ryan Frazier's names appear in bold because sentences are bolded for emphasis, NOT because we believe them to be Pro-Life).

One final note -- Support for Amendment 62 has been used against some candidates, who are faced with the charge (untrue) that it would ban all birth control (it only bans forms of birth control that would cause an abortion). Senate candidate Ken Buck made a series of missteps in responding to the challenge, but is now officially "pro-Personhood, but neutral on Amendment 62". It's worth noting that very few of the other candidates are backing away from their commitments to support Amendment 62!

Colorado Governor

Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo has not responded to CRTL's survey, but he has assured both us and the Constitution Party leadership (as well as Ben Goss, the man who he replaced) that he is 100% Pro-Life with no exceptions, and we have no reason to doubt this. The Constitution Party is firmly supportive of Personhood in its party platform. Both Tom Tancredo and his running mate, Pat Miller, have endorsed Amendment 62. Tancredo was recently challenged on this position in a media interview, and he re-emphasized that he supports Amendment 62.

Republican Dan Maes supports the Personhood Amendment, has responded to our survey correctly (he had to be convinced to give up support for embryonic stem cell research) and his current statements seem to agree with Colorado Right to Life's positions. He has made statements in the past which we disagreed with, but has met with Colorado Right to Life since then. However, his appointment of pro-abortion Tambor Williams (former state representative) as his running mate shows a complete lack of understanding for what it means to support pro-life principles. Recent revelations have also made us question Maes' credibility in what he says. If Maes is ever forced to resign, that would leave Colorado with a pro-abortion Republican Governor (Tambor Williams). That is not something CRTL can accept, and we ask you to consider this before voting for Dan Maes.

Democrat John Hickenlooper is pro-abortion.

U.S. Senate

Republican Ken Buck has said in the past he supports Personhood, and has responded to CRTL's survey with answers that seemed to be correct (with the caveat that he hasn't taken a position on state ballot measures). A recent Denver Post article claimed Buck had reversed his support for Amendment 62. Buck's campaign explained that was not true, and said he had never endorsed Amendment 62. However, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and other sources claimed he had. It's not entirely clear whether he's changed his position, but his comments about not knowing it would "ban birth control" (an untrue claim - see note above) have concerned us. A representative met with him long ago to explain that some forms of birth control are abortifacient, and would be banned, but that other forms would not be.

Every time Buck tries to clarify his stance, he makes things worse, and even seems to be officially supporting abortifacient birth control (he says he doesn't support banning any common forms of birth control).

Ken Buck now seems to be embarrassed by the very pro-lifers who enabled him to win the GOP nomination, which is very disappointing, and in contrast to many GOP candidates it's the last thing we expected from him. Buck has turned his back on the pro-lifers who have supported him, and gone back on his promises to us in several ways, including that he now says he will vote to allow "pro-choice" judges. This is a betrayal, much like what we came to expect from Republicans in recent decades who campaigned on pro-life issues, then did nothing to fulfill their promises. We're tired of electing people who use us to get elected, and then do their own thing.

CRTL vice president Leslie Hanks says, "We would rather he be a statesman than a politician." Thomas Jefferson said, "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." If Ken Buck is elected, CRTL will work with him, as with any other politician, but we will have a special expectation that he will follow through with what he has promised his supporters. It's not CRTL's job to back candidates, but rather to tell you who we have confidence in. We have no confidence in Ken Buck.

Democrat Michael Bennet is pro-abortion.

Unaffiliated candidate Charley Miller responded to our survey with very mixed responses. While his heart seems to be in the right place, he does not believe life begins at conception, supports euthanasia, and opposes government involvement in abortion.

Congressional District 1

Republican Mark Fallon is not overtly pro-life. The Denver Post said, "Fallon, a practicing Catholic with traditional religious beliefs, says he would remain neutral on social issues like a woman's right to an abortion and gay rights."

Democrat Diana DeGette is pro-abortion.

Congressional District 2

Both Republican Stephen Bailey and Democrat Jared Polis are strongly pro-abortion.

Constitution Party candidate Jenna Prather-Goss has responded to the CRTL survey, supports Amendment 62, and is 100% Pro-Life.

Congressional District 3

Democrat John Salazar is pro-abortion.

Republican Scott Tipton won't go on record, and tells people he is pro-life but is NOT considered by us to be honestly pro-life. Scott Tipton has avoided responding to CRTL surveys for 3 years, has lied to us and others about having responded, regularly tells voters he's pro-life and that he's responded to our questionnaire, and his website says he is pro-life but he approves of abortion in cases of rape or incest. Scott Tipton is NOT PRO LIFE and is lying in order to get your vote!

Write-In candidate John Hargis is 100% Pro-Life, and has responded to CRTL's survey. If you want to cast a write-in vote, the Secretary of State's website says a voter must write the candidate's name (John W. Hargis Sr.) in the space reserved on the ballot for write-in votes, and properly marks the oval OR connects the arrow on optical scan ballots according to the directions provided to the voter. If you want to find out more about John Hargis, his website is here (CRTL does not endorse candidates, but since he is a write-in candidate not connected to a major party, it seems reasonable to show you where to find him).

Congressional District 4

Republican Cory Gardner supports Personhood, responded to our survey, has participated in CRTL events, and is considered 100% Pro-Life.

Democrat Betsy Markey is pro-abortion.

There is a Constitution Party candidate, Doug Aden, but CRTL has not heard from him to establish his positions. The ACP normally supports Personhood.

Congressional District 5

Incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn has always been solid on life issues, and has co-sponsored Personhood legislation at the national level.

Congressional District 6

Incumbent Republican Mike Coffman is on record supporting Personhood and is on record as Pro-Life with no exceptions. However, he does not appear to have co-sponsored the Personhood legislation introduced in Congress. We hope that he would vote to support such legislation if he had the opportunity, as he has pledged.

Congressional District 7

Republican Ryan Frazier has never indicated support for Personhood or a 100% Pro-Life position. He has told pro-life voters he is pro-life, but is also on record saying he doesn't believe it is government's place to interfere on the issue, except to prohibit public funding. We believe Ryan Frazier is lying to get the votes of pro-lifers, saying he is pro-life without committing to do anything about it. Ryan Frazier is NOT pro-life by any reasonable measure.

Democrat Ed Perlmutter is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 1

Greg Brophy (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 2

Kevin Grantham (R) has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 correct, supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 3

Vera Ortegon (R) has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 correct, supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 6

Both the Republican and Democrat candidates in this race are pro-abortion (pro-Personhood Dean Boehler was defeated in the primary).

State Senate District 7

Steve King (R) responded to the CRTL survey, supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions. (King did support "emergency contraception" in a previous legislative session -- we take this as his promise he will not do so again)

State Senate District 9

Kent Lambert (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 11

Owen Hill (R) hasn't responded to our survey but we believe he is 100% pro-life.

State Senate District 13

Scott Renfroe (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions (in fact he's the only Colorado legislator to have carried the equivalent of Personhood legislation).

State Senate District 15

Kevin Lundberg (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 16

Tim Leonard (R) has said that he has not taken a position on Amendment 62, but he believes life begins at conception and past evidence indicates he is willing to protect that life through legislation. Without concrete information we cannot be more concrete in our assessment of his position.

State Senate District 20

No pro-life candidates that we're aware of.

State Senate District 22

Mike Kopp (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 24

No pro-life candidates that we're aware of.

State Senate District 30

Ted Harvey (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 31

Doug Smith (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to contact. We have no reason to believe he's pro-life except that he appears to have supported pro-life candidates in the past. If you know Doug and can get him in touch with us, please do so.
Clifton Powell (Constitution) is another candidate we've not been able to contact, but he has a track record of pro-life activism and we have every reason to believe he is 100% Pro-Life. His party is also 100% pro-life.

State Senate District 32

Tyler Kolden (R) has responded to our survey and is 100% Pro-Life.

Democrat Chris Romer (son of the previous governor) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 33

Lisa Ringle (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to reach. No reason to believe either way so far.

State Senate District 34

No pro-life candidates.

NOTE ABOUT CANDIDATES: Senate Districts 31-34 and House Districts 1-9 are City of Denver districts, and even pro-life candidates from these districts often don't want to be on record. We would prefer if they would be public about their beliefs, but it is typical candidate behavior to avoid controversy. The same goes for Boulder Districts (Senate 16 and House 10-14).

State House District 1

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 2

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 3

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 4

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 5

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 6

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 7

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 8

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 9

C.J. Garbo (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent does not appear to be pro-life)

State House District 10

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 11

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 12

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 13

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 14

Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life but we've not received his survey.

State House District 15

Mark Waller (R) says he is pro-life and is willing to talk with CRTL - haven't had an opportunity to talk with him yet.

State House District 16

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 17

Mark Barker (R) responded to our survey, supports Personhood, pro-life without exceptions.

State House District 18

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 19

Marsha Looper (R) may support Personhood, and considers herself pro-life. Have not received survey responses to evaluate her positions. Please ask her to contact us.

State House District 20

Amy Stephens (R) may support Personhood, and considers herself pro-life. Have not received survey responses to evaluate her positions. Please ask her to contact us. Amy also stood up for us at the legislative council hearings over Bluebook wording for Amendment 62, which CRTL very much appreciates.

State House District 21

No reason to believe candidates are pro-life (Bob Gardner supported "emergency contraception" -- abortifacients -- in the legislature)

State House District 22

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 23

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 24

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 25

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 26

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 27

Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys, but we believe she is 100% pro-life.

State House District 28

Jim Kerr (R) has not returned his survey, but he did sign the Personhood petition, and may be fully pro-life. Please have him contact us.

State House District 29

Robert Ramirez (R) has responded to our survey, and is 100% Pro-Life.

Democrat Debbie Benefield is pro-abortion.

State House District 30

Candidates have not returned surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 31

Tom Janich (R) has responded to the survey with 7 of 7 responses correct except that he says he supported the 2008 Amendment but has difficulty with the wording of the 2010 Amendment. We're sure this could be worked out by talking through the different wording and why it was chosen. We believe he is 100% Pro-Life.

State House District 32

Kaarl Hoopes (R) responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

Edward Casso (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

If you know Don Beezley (R) please have him respond to the survey. We hear he's pro-life but need confirmation.

State House District 34

Brian Vande Krol (R) was thought to have supported Personhood, but has since contacted our office and indicates he does not, that he is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Edgar Antillon (R) said he was pro-life but has since distanced himself from Amendment 62. His reasons for doing so appear to be that he mistakenly believes it would prevent medical treatment for a woman whose pregnancy has life-threatening complications, which is just not true. Hopefully after the election we can work through these things with him.

State House District 36

No pro-life candidates.

State House District 37

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life. Spencer Swalm supported "emergency contraception" (abortifacients) in the legislature.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) has responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is 100% Pro-Life.

Democrat Joe Rice is pro-abortion.

State House District 39

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 40

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 41

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 42

Sally Mounier (R) has responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is 100% Pro-Life.

Democrat Karen Middleton is pro-abortion.

State House District 43

Frank McNulty (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 44

Chris Holbert (R) responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is 100% pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 45

Candidates did not respond to our survey. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 46

Steven Rodriguez (R) responded to our survey and supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 47

Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 48

Glenn Vaad (R) signed the Personhood petition this year, which implies that he is pro-life without exception. We have not received a survey response from him though, to confirm this. He did support "emergency contraception" in the legislature, and if he would respond to our survey we could confirm his promise not to do so again.

State House District 49

B.J. Nikkel (R) supports Personhood, and we have reason to believe she is pro-life with no exceptions. We've not received her survey, so we cannot confirm this for certain.

State House District 50

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 51

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 52

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 53

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 54

Ray Scott (R) supports Personhood, and is 100% pro-life with no exceptions.

Claudette Konola (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 55

Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 56

Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 57

Randy Baumgardner (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 58

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 59

J. Paul Brown (R) has been seen on recent debate video announcing that he supports Amendment 62, and standing firm even when publicly challenged by his opponent. Though we have not heard from him, it seems reasonable to believe from his statements he is 100% Pro-Life.

Democrat Brian O'Donnell is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life. Tom Massey supported "emergency contraception" (abortifacients) in the legislature.

State House District 61

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 62

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 63

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 64

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 65

Jerry Sonnenberg (R) supports Personhood, and he is pro-life with no exceptions.

"Pro-Life" Means More Than it Used To (press release)

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:35:00 +0000

Colorado Right to Life does not issue endorsements of candidates, but we do separate the "wheat from the chaff" in terms of who is really pro-life, and who is simply using the issue as a prop to get elected.

Both Republican candidates for Governor, and both Republican candidates for U.S. Senate have endorsed Amendment 62, the Personhood Amendment. However, Jane Norton's website says she still supports rape and incest exceptions which would allow an innocent person -- the unborn child -- to be killed.

Personhood is the new definition of "pro-life" in Colorado politics. CRTL believes life begins at the very beginning -- when the sperm reacts with the ovum to create DNA for a new, individual Person with a Right to Life.

We're also greatly concerned about the 3rd Congressional District, where both candidates "say" they're pro-life, but only one candidate -- Bob McConnell -- responded to CRTL's candidate survey. Only one candidate went on record as supporting the Personhood Amendment. And only one candidate seems at all serious about defending the life of the unborn child. "Scott Tipton may think abortion is just an election issue," says Leslie Hanks, VP of CRTL and co-sponsor of Amendment 62, "but it's not. It's a heart issue, and it's a matter of life and death, and we're glad one candidate understands that."

Similar contrasts exist in other legislative races.

The 6th State Senate District (Montrose, Durango, Pagosa Springs) offers a contrast between a 100% pro-life candidate named Dean Boehler and pro-abortion Rep. Ellen Roberts. "Ellen Roberts is the most pro-abortion Republican in the entire legislature!" Hanks said. "Every time she had the option to vote for or against abortion, she voted for it." That's five different pieces of legislation, as shown by CRTL's Legislative Scorecard (2007-2008). Pro-abortion NARAL has rated Ellen Roberts 100%.

In the 2nd State Senate District (Canon City, south Pueblo, Walsenburg, Las Animas) Kevin Grantham is 100% pro-life while his opponent has said on the radio he's "pro-choice."

In Grand Junction's House District 54, Ray Scott is a 100% pro-life conservative running against Bob Hislop. Scott supports the Personhood Amendment, while Hislop does not.

In Douglas County's House District 44, Chris Holbert is 100% pro-life, and has taken the life issue very seriously, attending CRTL's legislative events. David Casiano has also endorsed Personhood and supports CRTL's positions on life issues. But their opponent, Polly Lawrence does not support Personhood, and will only say she is "Personally pro-life" (which is the same thing Bill Ritter and John Kerry said and means "officially pro-abortion").

"The Right to Life isn't just on the ballot in November," Hanks says. "It's on the ballot Tuesday, too, when only some Republicans support the little guy -- the really little guy."

coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2010/08/full-list-of-pro-life-candidates.html

Full List of Pro-Life Candidates (Colorado 2010 - August Update)

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:36:00 +0000

This blog has been superseded by new information (which is why the links are gray). Fully updated information as of mid-October 2010 is available by clicking here.

You may still look up our detailed comments on candidates in the following places:

Governor & Senate Candidates (plus key State Senate races)

Pro-life vs. pro-abortion candidates in 3 Congressional Primaries (candidates are lying!)

Legislative Candidates' detailed comments (today's post contains updates and supersedes the old information)

We have received NEW candidate surveys in the past few days, which are listed here. Pro-life candidates' names are listed in bold.

This is a simplified list of all candidates who Colorado Right to Life considers "pro-life". To be on this list, a candidate must meet the following qualifications:
1) They must support Personhood - Amendment 62 - and be on record supporting an actual Right to Life which should be guaranteed under the law.
2) They must officially support NO ABORTIONS for any reason (other than to save the "life of the mother" which is a matter we've discussed before -- we support doing whatever is necessary to save the life of the mother, which NEVER requires trying to kill an unborn child in the womb -- candidates who support "life of the mother exceptions" are misunderstanding this, but we just need to talk through it with them).

This list includes only valid pro-life candidates for Governor, US Senate/Congress, State House and State Senate, and occasionally candidates who are NOT pro-life whose position we want to make clear (their names will not be bolded). We're sorry if the non-inclusion of a favorite candidate offends you. Candidates who are NOT on this list are either missing because they have made statements which violate either of our two criteria or because they have not responded to the CRTL Candidate Survey -- call them, e-mail them, ask them to answer, and they will be included.

Colorado Governor

Dan Maes (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Scott McInnis (R) supports Personhood (his claims of having a pro-life record in Congress are NOT true), and says he is pro-life with no exceptions (we'll hold him to that).
Tom Tancredo (Constitution) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

U.S. Senate

Ken Buck (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Jane Norton (R) says she supports Personhood, but her website supports abortions for rape or incest which violate the concept of Personhood -- she is NOT 100% pro-life.

Congressional District 1

Steve Barton (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(Mark Fallon, his Republican opponent, is not overtly pro-life: Denver Post: "Fallon, a practicing Catholic with traditional religious beliefs, says he would remain neutral on social issues like a woman's right to an abortion and gay rights")

Congressional District 2

No candidates are 100% pro-life -- Bob Brancato opposes most abortions, Stephen Bailey supports all abortions.

Congressional District 3

Bob McConnell (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Scott Tipton (R) won't go on record, and claims to be pro-life but is NOT considered truly pro-life.
John Hargis (write-in) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 4

Cory Gardner (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 5

Doug Lamborn (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 6

Mike Coffman (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 7

No candidates are confirmed 100% pro-life. Lang Sias hasn't responded to repeated attempts to get a response to our surveys, though he says he's pro-life. Ryan Frazier falsely claims to be pro-life while he's told newspapers he doesn't think the government should interfere.

State Senate District 1

Greg Brophy (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 2

Kevin Grantham (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent is pro-abortion)

State Senate District 3

Vera Ortegon (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Alexander Mugatu (R) supports Personhood, but also supports some abortion exceptions so he cannot be considered fully pro-life.

State Senate District 5

No pro-life candidates (pro-life Wayne Wolf doesn't appear to be on the ballot any longer)

State Senate District 6

Dean Boehler (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent supports abortion)

State Senate District 7

Steve King (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(King did support "emergency contraception" in a previous legislative session -- we take this as his promise he will not do so again)

State Senate District 9

Kent Lambert (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 11

Owen Hill (R) hasn't responded to our survey but we believe he is 100% pro-life.

State Senate District 13

Scott Renfroe (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions (in fact he's the only Colorado legislator to have carried the equivalent of Personhood legislation).

State Senate District 15

Kevin Lundberg (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 16

Tim Leonard (R) is unclear in his support of Personhood, and though he has been 100% pro-life in the past he hasn't responded to our survey.

State Senate District 20

No pro-life candidates that we're aware of.

State Senate District 22

Mike Kopp (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 24

No pro-life candidates that we're aware of.

State Senate District 30

Ted Harvey (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 31

Doug Smith (R) is a new candidate we've not had time to contact. We have no reason to believe he's pro-life except that he appears to have supported pro-life candidates in the past. If you know Doug and can get him in touch with us, please do so.
Clifton Powell (Constitution) is another candidate we've not been able to contact. His party is considered 100% pro-life. If you know him please have him contact us.

State Senate District 32

Tyler Kolden (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to reach. No reason to believe either way so far.

State Senate District 33

Lisa Ringle (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to reach. No reason to believe either way so far.

State Senate District 34

No pro-life candidates.

NOTE ABOUT CANDIDATES: Senate Districts 31-34 and House Districts 1-9 are City of Denver districts, and even pro-life candidates from these districts often don't want to be on record. We would prefer if they would be public about their beliefs, but it is typical candidate behavior to avoid controversy. The same goes for Boulder Districts (Senate 16 and House 10-14).

State House District 1

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 2

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 3

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 4

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 5

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 6

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 7

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 8

No pro-life candidates we're aware of.

State House District 9

C.J. Garbo (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent does not appear to be pro-life)

State House District 10

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 11

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 12

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 13

We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.

State House District 14

Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life but we've not received his survey.

State House District 15

Mark Waller (R) says he is pro-life and is willing to talk with CRTL - haven't had an opportunity to talk with him yet.

State House District 16

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 17

Mark Barker (R) supports Personhood, pro-life without exceptions.

State House District 18

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 19

Marsha Looper (R) may support Personhood, and considers herself pro-life. Have not received survey responses to evaluate her positions. Please ask her to contact us.

State House District 20

Amy Stephens (R) may support Personhood, and considers herself pro-life. Have not received survey responses to evaluate her positions. Please ask her to contact us.

State House District 21

No reason to believe candidates are pro-life (Bob Gardner supported "emergency contraception" -- abortifacients -- in the legislature)

State House District 22

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 23

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 24

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 25

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 26

Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 27

Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys, but we believe she is 100% pro-life.

State House District 28

Jim Kerr (R) has not returned his survey, but he did sign the Personhood petition, and may be fully pro-life. Please have him contact us.

State House District 29

Candidates have not returned surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 30

Candidates have not returned surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 31

Tom Janich (R) is responding to the survey now -- we'll update this when we see his responses.

State House District 32

Kaarl Hoopes (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 33

If you know Don Beezley (R) please have him respond to the survey. We hear he's pro-life but need confirmation.

State House District 34

Brian Vande Krol (R) supports Personhood, which we assume means he has no exceptions. We'd like to confirm this. If you know him please have him contact us. We haven't received his survey.

State House District 35

Edgar Antillon (R) says he's pro-life but we never recieved his survey. We cannot confirm.

State House District 36

No pro-life candidates.

State House District 37

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life. Spencer Swalm supported "emergency contraception" (abortifacients) in the legislature.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life without exception.

State House District 39

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 40

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 41

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 42

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 43

Frank McNulty (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 44

Chris Holbert (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.
David Casiano (R) recently responded that he supports Personhood, and is pro-life without exceptions.
Polly Lawrence (R) responded to our survey, indicating she is "personally pro-life" (which means she's professionally pro-abortion) -- she refused to support Personhood.

State House District 45

Candidates did not respond to our survey. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 46

Steven Rodriguez (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 47

Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

State House District 48

Glenn Vaad (R) signed the Personhood petition this year, which implies that he is pro-life without exception. We have not received a survey response from him though, to confirm this. He did support "emergency contraception" in the legislature, and if he would respond to our survey we could confirm his promise not to do so again.

State House District 49

B.J. Nikkel (R) supports Personhood, and we have reason to believe she is pro-life with no exceptions. We've not received her survey, so we cannot confirm this for certain.

State House District 50

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 51

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 52

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 53

Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 54

Ray Scott (R) supports Personhood, and is 100% pro-life with no exceptions.
(Ray's Republican opponent is pro-abortion)

State House District 55

Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 56

Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 57

Randy Baumgardner (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 58

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 59

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 60

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life. Tom Massey supported "emergency contraception" (abortifacients) in the legislature.

State House District 61

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 62

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 63

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 64

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

State House District 65

Jerry Sonnenberg (R) supports Personhood, and he is pro-life with no exceptions.

Colorado Governor & U.S. Senate Candidate Positions & Survey Responses (July 2010)

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:57:00 +0000

This blog post is obsolete, and has been superseded by updated information accurate as of mid-October 2010, which can be accessed by clicking here.

All of the candidates discussed here have been approached on the subject of Personhood and Amendment 62, which will be on the Nov 2010 ballot. Candidate positions for major statewide or federal offices have been mostly established.

Personhood means support for the God-given Right to Life from the beginning of a human's biological development until natural death -- NO exceptions! It is CRTL's only real standard for judging a candidate's qualifications, though we do challenge candidates on several questions which relate closely to Personhood but which may be considered separate issues. Support for Colorado's Amendment 62 is an easy way to check if a candidate supports Personhood.

See the CRTL 2010 Candidate Questionnaire, which is used to judge the candidates' pro-life credentials.

CRTL will not and cannot support anyone who supports abortion for any reason. They are NOT "pro-life", they are "pro-death with exceptions". Many candidates say they are pro-life, but they are holding back critical "exceptions" where they are willing to see unborn children killed. Beware of these common tactics & lies.

The following is a comprehensive update of what CRTL knows about the major Colorado candidates for U.S. Senate and for Governor. This information supersedes any previous versions.

U.S. Senate

Republican Ken Buck opened communication with Colorado Right to Life early in the election season, and has replied to the CRTL candidate questionnaire with solid responses. He supports Amendment 62, the Personhood concept in general, and understands what's at stake. CRTL considers him 100% pro-life. It's not completely clear that he agrees with CRTL's position on abortion regulations, but he seems willing to dialogue on these issues and we look forward to discussing this with him again in the future.

Republican Jane Norton has declared her support for Amendment 62 also, and has a history as a pro-life leader. However, to the best of our knowledge she still supports abortions in cases of rape or incest. She has not publicly repudiated that stance, even though it conflicts with the Personhood of the unborn child. She expressed a willingness to have someone on her staff meet with CRTL on these issues, and if she is the nominee we would be glad to do so.

Democrats Michael Bennet and Andrew Romanoff both support abortion. In the absence of information to the contrary, we expect Libertarian candidates Maclyn Stringer and John Finger do also, as do most Libertarian candidates.

Colorado Governor

Republican Dan Maes has run as a pro-life, family values candidate, and has endorsed Personhood (Amendment 62) and signed the petition. He answered CRTL's Candidate Survey with strong pro-life answers, and when challenged on his early support for embryonic stem cell research he was willing to discuss the issue with us, and changed his mind. Subsequent mis-statements by him in the press caused us to question, but after meeting with him we are convinced his mistakes are more due to his unfamiliarity with some of the issues. We believe Dan Maes is sincere in his pro-life views, and believe he will support Personhood if it comes to his desk to sign. CRTL considers Dan Maes to be 100% pro-life.

Republican Scott McInnis, despite his claims during his campaign, did not have a solid pro-life record when he was in Congress, at one time voted for taxpayer funding for abortion, and even served as a prominent member of Republicans for Choice (Republicans for Abortion). He more-or-less acknowledges his past on the issue, and has said he has changed his mind after reflection as he has aged and learned more about life and family.

McInnis has not returned his candidate survey, but has agreed to meet with CRTL if he is the nominee. In a private phone conversation he repeated his public support for Amendment 62, the Personhood Amendment, and privately agreed to support a Personhood measure if it came across his desk. If he is the nominee, we look forward to meeting with him, and to seeing more public emphasis on his new pro-life views. CRTL remains skeptical of his conversion, not just because of his past record, but also because of more recent issues that throw question on his forthrightness.

American Constitution Party candidate Ben Goss has resigned from the campaign in order to make room for new candidate Tom Tancredo.

Formerly Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo has joined the American Constitution Party and is expected to become their new nominee for Governor -- a situation that follows developments with the McInnis campaign. As candidate Goss has noted, the Constitution Party carries the Personhood of the unborn child as part of its platform, and Tancredo would not have been allowed to put forth his candidacy without assurances of his support for Amendment 62, which we are assured have been made.

Tancredo's support for Personhood comes as no surprise to CRTL, as his record on pro-life issues has long been very strong. We look forward to a public announcement on Amendment 62, and to talking with him about other issues such as abortion regulations. CRTL considers Tom Tancredo to be 100% pro-life.

Democrat John Hickenlooper is known to be pro-abortion.

If you have any questions about either race, or any candidate, please feel free to contact Colorado Right to Life at 303-753-9394 or at office@coloradorighttolife.org.

Updates to CRTL surveys and information on candidates for the Colorado House and Senate will be forthcoming by this weekend. For the most part, the candidate information provided in May still holds true.

State House and Senate Primaries (GOP) of Note

There are some important House and Senate races where clearly pro-Personhood Republicans are facing Republican primary opponents who are known to be pro-abortion or whose positions are unknown (which likely means they are pro-choice) are these:

SD 2 (Canon City, south Pueblo, Walsenburg, Las Animas)
Kevin Grantham is considered 100% pro-life. His opponent (Matt Heimerich) is known to be pro-abortion.

SD 5 (Delta, Aspen, Gunnison, Buena Vista, Salida, Alamosa)
Wayne Wolf is considered 100% pro-life. His Republican opponent's views are unknown to us (Bob Rankin) but has been identified by some as a socially-moderate libertarian.

SD 6 (southwestern Colorado, including Montrose, Durango & Pagosa Springs)
Dean Boehler is considered 100% pro-life. We consider his Republican opponent (Ellen Roberts) the most pro-abortion Republican legislator.

HD 44 (Parker, Roxborough Park)
Chris Holbert is considered 100% pro-life. We have significant doubts about one of his primary opponents (David Casiano) and the other (Polly Lawrence) is on record opposing Amendment 62 to establish Personhood for the unborn.

HD 54 (Grand Junction, Delta)
Ray Scott is considered 100% pro-life. His opponent (Bob Hislop) has not responded to our survey, his site mentions "family values" while remaining very vague, but he is believed by local pro-lifers to be insincere in his stand, only saying he's pro-life in order to get pro-life votes. Hislop was personally given a survey and asked to support Personhood, and he refused.

Also please see CRTL's recent post about similar clear distinctions between candidates for U.S. Congress in the 7th, 3rd and 2nd Congressional Districts.

Colorado Congressional Races in 7th, 3rd, 2nd: Three Critical Primaries Between Contrasting Republicans

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:20:00 +0000

URGENT information about Congressional candidates follows, some of whom insist on calling themselves "pro-life" when they're not by any reasonable definition.

Scott Tipton and Ryan Frazier called out as falsely trying to get pro-life votes.

Personhood means support for the God-given Right to Life from the beginning of a human's natural biological development until natural death -- NO exceptions! It is CRTL's only real standard for judging a candidate's qualifications, though we do challenge candidates on several questions which relate closely to Personhood but which may be considered separate issues. Support for Colorado's Amendment 62, on the November ballot, is an easy way to check if a candidate supports Personhood.

Every major candidate running for State or Federal office here in Colorado has been approached at least once, often two or three times, by e-mail, in person, and/or by certified mail. If they haven't responded to our survey we must assume they are trying to hide views which do not agree with ours. If they wish to change their mind and respond, they are welcome to do so, and we will post their responses quickly.

Three critical Congressional races with primaries between candidates who disagree on abortion are identified first (2nd, 3rd & 7th):

7th Congressional District

Republican Ryan Frazier claims to be "100% pro-life" BUT HE IS NOT! Frazier has been telling pro-life voters that he is "100% pro-life" but these words conceal the fact that he is on record as a "social moderate" whose own words tell us he isn't interested in using legislative power to stop abortions. He does not support Amendment 62, to the best of our knowledge. He supports certain limits on abortion, such as de-funding Planned Parenthood, but is willing to go no further.

Frazier has not responded to CRTL's repeated attempts to reach him (including by certified letter), and we expect he would score badly on CRTL's candidate questionnaire even if he did respond.

Frazier told Westword, "I am not a fan of abortion, but I struggle with whether it is the appropriate role of the government to place itself there." That's like struggling with the role of government to ban slavery. The Aurora Sentinel said, "Frazier's shown a more liberal bent in his approach on social issues, however, voicing support for same-sex couples and expressing a measured stance on government regulation of abortion."

The statements on his website and in person are cleverly worded to sound like he's on our side, but many of these same things were said by John Kerry and other pro-abortion Republicans and Democrats. You may also find this pro-life blogger's information helpful: Philokalia Republic.

Republican Lang Sias has said he is pro-life, and we have come to believe this is substantially true, even though we have not received his candidate survey or been able to reach him to confirm the extent of his stands. Because of this, we cannot refer to him as a "pro-life" candidate because we cannot confirm this. But we also have no evidence to the contrary, unlike with his opponent. Please encourage Sias to return his survey, or at least to contact CRTL. If you know whether he has taken a stand on Personhood Amendment 62, we would appreciate knowing.

Democrat Ed Perlmutter is pro-abortion.

3rd Congressional District

Republican Scott Tipton has not responded to our CRTL candidate survey, and has avoided or ignored multiple requests for details on what he claims are pro-life beliefs. He's been approached in person, made promises to respond to the survey, and been approached by e-mail twice. He also did not respond to inquiries from CRTL in 2008.

For three years now, Scott Tipton has avoided going on the record with any pro-life views, either through us or via the news media (that we can find) other than his mere word. Scott Tipton's website confirms he supports abortion in cases of rape & incest, expecting the innocent child to pay for the crimes of another. Scott Tipton does not meet the standard of being legitimately pro-life.

Republican Bob McConnell has responded to CRTL's survey, and he answered 6 out of 7 questions correctly (enough that we trust his heart is sincerely in sympathy with CRTL's positions). His only reservation was on the matter of supporting "regulatory" laws (which CRTL believes actually undermine the concept of Personhood, even though many pro-lifers believe regulations "save some babies"). Bob McConnell supports Amendment 62, the Personhood Amendment.

This is a long-term discussion, and CRTL will continue to discuss this issue with McConnell. On this particular matter, we believe strongly in a candidate's good intentions.

Democrat John Salazar supports abortion.

2nd Congressional District

Republican candidate Stephen Bailey is pro-abortion. He does not support a God-given Right to Life, and believes abortion should not be restricted in any form, except to ban public funding and partial birth abortion.

Republican candidate Bob Brancato responded to our survey, and supports Personhood (signed the petition). His responses are essentially 5 out of 7 correct. He still supports exceptions for rape and incest, and supports regulations. The rape and incest exceptions greatly concern us, for the same reasons noted above for Scott Tipton. But these responses are promising for a candidate we've not had time to dialogue with, and Brancato has been willing to talk with CRTL -- we have hopes that he will come around on this vital issue. We'll keep working on him -- we believe his heart is in the right place.

Democrat Jared Polis is known to strongly support abortion.

More information later today on other races.

Updated Information Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:23:00 +0000

Some of you have already received your ballots. Please, especially since there are some key races where the truth is not being told, hold on for just a few more days before marking your ballots.

There is important information on a couple of races, including the 3rd Congressional and 7th Congressional races (i.e. not all candidates are as pro-life as they claim), which we will be providing early next week.

There will also be additional information, including positive information about Robert Ramirez in House District 29. Campaign updates, etc. We will also provide updated information on the Governor's race.

We also received a very positive candidate survey from US Senate candidate Ken Buck -- we've known for a long time he was pro-Personhood, but now we do have a survey and he's on record with support for all of our positions except for the life of the mother exception (which as we've noted isn't a conflict, because this is a matter of semantics -- the doctor has a sworn duty to try to save both the mother and the baby, and because of this there's never a situation where the mother's life would be saved by trying to kill the baby -- if the doctor TRIES to kill the baby, that's wrong, but there's never a situation, even with ectopic pregnancies, where the doctor MUST try to kill the baby rather than simply trying to save both the baby and the mother -- it's a matter of the intent of the doctor, which should always be to try to preserve life even when such hopes are futile).

Colorado Legislative Candidate Positions & Survey Responses - May 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:06:00 +0000

All information below this paragraph is obsolete, having been superseded by updated information accurate as of mid-October 2010, which can be accessed by clicking here.

Here we continue our information about candidates (find State & Federal candidates' information here: http://coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2010/05/colorado-state-federal-candidate.html). This information supersedes all previous information (we had published updates in March and April), and includes everything we have to date.

If a candidate you know isn't on this list, please ask them to return their survey, which can be found here: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/candidate-survey .

The introduction, where we explain Colorado Right to Life's stance and why we are so "hard on candidates" (it's called holding them accountable) is in the other post, linked above. Here's a brief synopsis:

Colorado Right to Life pulls no punches -- if we have doubts about a candidate's sincerity, we'll tell you. The old definition of "pro-life" won't work. Personhood is the new definition -- a Right to Life from the beginning of biological development until natural death. No exceptions for rape or incest (if you have a Right to Life, it is inviolable). We also ask candidates not to "regulate" abortion, because a regulation implies a "right" to do whatever is being regulated (i.e. abortion). Candidates and legislators have been slow to adapt to these new definitions and stands, but they are definitely changing.

Personhood has been an issue in Colorado for only 2 years now -- it was first on the ballot in 2008, and is again on the ballot in 2010 (as Amendment 62 -- plus, it will soon be on the ballot in other states also, such as Mississippi in 2011). Don't accept a candidate who self-identifies as pro-life but who won't support Personhood, or won't respond to the Colorado Right to Life Candidate Survey. Someone who says they are pro-life but they have exceptions, or aren't willing to enact their pro-life principles in law are "pro-abortion with exceptions." Personhood IS the Right to Life -- someone who does not support Personhood does not support recognizing a God-given Right to Life in law!

We do not assume any candidate is pro-life unless they've responded to our candidate survey, or we have some other reason to trust their positions are sincere. CRTL does not officially endorse candidates for any office, but we will let you know which ones are NOT pro-life, and try to offer guidance on the rest. Please, NEVER assume a candidate is pro-life because of their party affiliation! CRTL does not support candidates from any particular political party -- if a candidate from the Constitution Party or even the Democrat Party is pro-life, we will let you know. We do not ever recommend voting for the "lesser of two evils" because we stand on very important principles which we will not compromise for purposes of political expediency.

Personhood -- support for the God-given Right to Life from the beginning of a human's biological development until natural death -- is CRTL's only real standard for judging a candidate's qualifications, though we do challenge candidates on several questions which relate closely to Personhood but which may be considered separate issues.

A final note: Because of our principled stand, many of our past financial supporters consider us extreme. If you appreciate our uncompromising principles in favor of a real, God-given Right to Life for all Persons, no exceptions, please consider supporting us financially. Most organizations do not hold to their principles because it's not profitable. That's not a reasonable excuse, and we will not follow, but there are consequences for standing up for what's right. Donations can be accepted here: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/donate

Colorado State Senate Candidates

State Senate District 1

Sen. Greg Brophy (R) has a strong record of supporting Personhood (though like many current pro-life officeholders, he also supports regulating abortion -- we will continue efforts to change his mind). He has not returned his CRTL survey, but we hope someone will remind him.

State Senate District 2

Republican candidate Kevin Grantham has responded to our survey, answering 7 of 7 questions correctly! He also advertises his pro-life values on his website (many lukewarm candidates won't do this), citing a pro-Personhood "life at fertilization" standard.

Grantham faces primary opponents, but we have not heard from them.

State Senate District 3

Republican candidate Alexander Lucero-Mugatu has responded to our survey, responding correctly to 6 of 7 questions. His response to question #2, on rape & incest exceptions, makes us think he does not necessarily support prohibiting abortion for rape or incest (which undermines the Personhood of the unborn child), but we will work with him on these apparent exceptions. For now, it remains a red flag, and we hope that a supporter will be able to speak with him about this.

Mugatu faces a Republican primary, but we have not heard from his opponents.

State Senate District 5

Republican candidate Wayne Wolf has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 questions answered correctly! He did indicate a possible exception for certain regulations, but it sounds like he is very close to our position, and we can work with him on defining specifics.

Wolf faces a Republican primary, but we have not heard from his opponent.

State Senate District 6

Rep. Ellen Roberts (R) is a pro-abortion Republican who was the lowest scoring Republican in the 2007-08 CRTL Legislative Scorecard, having supported pro-abortion positions on a number of occasions, and even cosponsoring legislation requiring even pro-life medical personnel to promote "emergency contraception" like RU 486 or Plan B -- strong chemical abortifacients meant to kill a developing unborn child. Several Democrats were considered more pro-life than her.

However, Republican Dean Boehler entered the race as a conservative, pro-life challenger. He answered 7 of 7 of CRTL's questions correctly in our candidate survey, and we consider him 100% pro-life.

Democrat Bruce Whitehead is unknown to us, but is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Steve King (R) voted in favor of "emergency contraception" (i.e. abortifacient pills intended to kill an already-concieved human child) in 2007. It's his only black mark we're aware of (we have not yet calculated the 2009-10 legislative scorecard), but this is obviously of serious concern. He has not responded to our survey, and we are unaware of whether he claims to be pro-life or not.

We have not heard from Democrat Claudette Konola, but she is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

This district features a primary contest between two Republicans of decidedly opposite persuasions.

Rep. Kent Lambert (R) is running for Sen. Schultheis’ senate seat. Lambert is one of the strongest pro-life votes in the legislature, and is pro-Personhood. Sadly he, along with all other current pro-life legislative officeholders, is still supporting regulations, but we hope he will change his mind if he wins this seat. We are hopeful.

His Republican primary opponent, Thomas McDowell’s, only reason to run seems to be that he has a chip on his shoulder about pro-life legislators like Lambert and Schultheis, and he’s made opposition to Christians and socially conservative positions a centerpiece of his campaign. McDowell is petitioning onto the ballot.

We are not familiar with Democrat Nick Werle, and in Colorado Springs we can't necessarily predict his stands.

State Senate District 11

We have tried to reach the candidates in this district -- Republican Owen Hill and Rep. John Morse -- but haven't heard from them. Morse has a pro-abortion record in the legislature. If you know Owen Hill, please have him contact us.

State Senate District 13

Sen. Scott Renfroe (R) is running for re-election. We believe Renfroe is the only current legislator who has run an actual pro-Personhood bill. Renfroe is very supportive of Personhood, and even took time from his busy day to oversee the petitions being turned in to the Sec. State’s office in 2008. Pro-life issues are central to his political philosophy.

We do not know anything about Democrat Ken Storck, but presume he is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 15

Two Republicans and two Democrats are running for this seat.

Rep. Kevin Lundberg (R) is known as a strong leader of Colorado’s pro-life contingent in the legislature. Again, he’s not yet renounced regulations, but in 2008 he was honest about his continuing support for regulations, but also strongly supported Personhood. We remain hopeful that he will change his mind about regulations. He answered correctly on 6 of 7 questions (i.e. except for regulations) in 2008, and we’re waiting to hear from him on his 2010 survey.

A Republican primary challenger is Torsten Eckstein, who has not responded and we know nothing about.

The Democrat Richard Ball is unknown to us, but we assume is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 16

Two Republicans and two Democrats are running for this seat also.

One of the Republican candidates is former CRTL board member Tim Leonard, who has also run for Governor previously on the Constitution Party ticket. In the past, Leonard has supported Personhood. We hope that he will continue to do so. We still await his candidate survey responses, however.

His primary opponent is Mark Hurlbert, Boulder DA.

Democrat Jeanne Nicholson is unknown to us, but is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Rep. Cheri Jahn (D) and her primary opponent Jonathan Ruchman have not responded to surveys. Jahn has a pro-abortion voting record.

We have not heard from their Republican challenger, John Odom.

State Senate District 22

Sen. Mike Kopp (R) supports Personhood and is 100% pro-life. He's part of the Republican Party leadership, and we're excited to see where he will take the legislature in coming years. We have not received his survey, but we have no doubts he is strongly pro-Personhood.

State Senate District 24

We have not heard from Republican Luis Alvarez. His Democrat opponent, Sen. Lois Tochtrop has a pro-abortion voting record.

State Senate District 30

Sen. Ted Harvey (R) supports Personhood, but also supports regulations. We hope to work with him in the coming year on that issue.

State Senate District 32

Sen. Chris Romer (D) has a pro-abortion voting record. We have not heard from his Republican challenger, Tyler Kolden.

State Senate District 34

We have not heard from the two Democrat candidates, Lucia Guzman or Rep. Joel Judd (D), though Judd has a pro-abortion voting record.

We also have not heard from Republican Derec Shuler, though his website indicates the government should stay out of our lives "especially our personal lives", which is usually code for pro-choice (i.e. pro-abortion).

Almost all of these candidates have been sent e-mails at least once, many of them twice. We've also checked most of their websites. There may be other senate candidates whose websites indicate a pro-life or pro-Personhood position. If you have information on a candidate, please let us know by e-mailing office@coloradorighttolife.org.

Colorado State House Candidates

We will only highlight a district if we have something useful to say. Some districts are currently uncontested, for instance, but if they've returned a survey we will list them. It can normally be assumed Democrats are pro-abortion unless stated otherwise. It cannot be assumed Republicans are pro-life -- many Republicans are not, and even many who claim to be support abortion in many cases. Our assumption is that if a candidate who has received our survey (every Republican should have gotten an e-mail unless they announced late, and many Democrats have too) has not returned it, they are not pro-life (i.e. they're hiding something). State House candidates are not famous for returning surveys, partly because they have small/no staff, and partly because they're usually advised not to return surveys (more experienced candidates know that sometimes exceptions should be made). But we also assume that if they were pro-life, one of their supporters or campaign volunteers would have mentioned they weren't on our list, and asked them to return the survey. Those who are still "no response" after 3 months of trying are "conspicuously absent."

State House District 3

We have not heard from either Daniel Kagan (D) or Christine Mastin (R), though both have been sent our survey. This is a City of Denver district, but is more conservative than most of the city, and Republicans have held this seat before. Mastin is a Tea Party associate, and is "fans" of some pro-life people on Facebook. Can we take that as an indicator she's pro-life? No, but it leaves the possibility open. Please let us know if you know more.

State House District 5

We had previously noted that JJ Swiontek, one of our 2008 "7 of 7" pro-Personhood respondents, had switched parties and was running in the Democrat primary. Unsure of how his stand might have changed during his conversion, but he is apparently no longer running -- perhaps he was eliminated during an assembly.

The remaining Democrats, Mark Thrun and Crisanta Duran, are unknown to us, as is the Republican Ronnie Nelson.

State House District 14

Dr. Janak Joshi is the Republican candidate for this seat. His website indicates that he is pro-life because he is a doctor – if only more doctors felt that way!

We have no information as to whether he supports the Personhood Initiative. If you have information, we would welcome your help. Also, please encourage him to return his CRTL candidate survey so we can establish his positions for sure.

State House District 15

Rep. Mark Waller (R) is running for re-election. In the 2008 race his pro-life credentials were not very well established (his opponent in the primary was pro-Personhood), but he claims to be pro-life. He seems ambivalent about the Personhood Initiative, and we have no reason to believe he is now supportive, or ever will support it.

Please encourage Rep. Waller to return his CRTL survey, and to support the Personhood Initiative (Amendment 62).

State House District 16

Democrat Janet Tanner is assumed to be pro-abortion, though in Colorado Springs districts that cannot necessarily be assumed.

Incumbent Rep. Larry Liston (R) has a record of voting pro-life, though he was one of our "rogue" Republicans who for some reason supported the 2007 bill on "emergency contraception" (which can kill a child on her 1st, 2nd or 3rd day of development). We are concerned about that vote, which we'd love an explanation for.

State House District 17

Republican Mark Barker has signed the Personhood petition, supports Personhood, and regards it as one of the most important principles to be upheld by an officeholder. He defeated a pro-abortion opponent, Kit Roupe, at the recent assembly.

We do not yet have Barker’s candidate survey (he has not had much time to respond), but we expect to get a favorable reply back soon. Please encourage him to return the survey when he can.

Democrat Rep. Dennis Apuan is known to be pro-abortion.

State House District 18

Republican candidate Karen Cullen seemed unfamiliar with pro-life concepts, and didn’t exactly jump to call herself pro-life when quizzed at a candidate forum several weeks ago. She flatly refused to support the Personhood Initiative (a Constitutional amendment) because she believes in “a clean Constitution."

It is possible that she was entirely misunderstood, and she may believe she is pro-life. If so, it is important that she establish this by returning her candidate survey. Also, we hope that she will be open to dialogue, and will realize the relative moral importance of maintaining a “clean Constitution” versus saving the lives of tens of thousands of unborn children who are being murdered. Perhaps some people who know her can talk her into changing her mind!

State House District 28

Rep. Jim Kerr (R) is running for re-election. He has always called himself pro-life, and seems to have been sincere in meaning well. While CRTL has been concerned that he was not strongly pro-life in the past, and he did also support the 2007 “emergency contraception” legislation, we are encouraged to note that he signed the 2010 Personhood Initiative petition (one of at least 4 legislators to join the 2010 effort who did not publicly support the 2008 effort!) which seems to indicate he has shifted to be more solidly pro-life. Please pray for Jim and his stance on these issues, and encourage him to return his CRTL candidate survey.

Democrat Steve Harvey is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 32

Kaarl Hoopes (R) has signed the Personhood Initiative petition, and appears to be very strongly pro-life. He defeated a pro-abortion opponent at the assembly, Andrew Goad.

Please encourage Kaarl to return his candidate survey when he can.

State House District 35

Republican candidate Edgar Antillon indicated he would be responding to our survey, but he never did. We're not quite sure how to read that. He says he is pro-life, but we cannot confirm whether he's a "casual pro-lifer" or a serious pro-lifer without his responses. Please encourage Antillon to return his survey!

State House District 43

While incumbent Rep. Frank McNulty has not returned his candidate survey, he has told a supporter he does support Personhood. Please encourage him to return his survey!

Democrat Gary Semro is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 44

Republican Chris Holbert quickly returned his survey with “7 of 7” pro-Personhood answers marked. We consider him one of the most strongly pro-life candidates in this race, and despite his tough primary race he took time to attend a legislative/candidates breakfast with CRTL. We appreciate his strong stance and his deep commitment.

Two Republicans are opposing him in the primary -- David Casiano and Polly Lawrence -- neither of which has responded to our survey. Lawrence talks about alot of issues on her website, for instance, but not abortion. We have no reason to believe either is pro-life, and we're sure if they are someone will tell us. We've made a second attempt to contact them.

State House District 46

The only Republican running in this district is Steven Rodriguez, who quickly answered CRTL’s survey with a “7 of 7” pro-Personhood response.

Democrat Sal Pace is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 49

Rep. BJ Nikkel (R) is running for election to a seat she was appointed to mid-term – 1 year ago. She is one of the “new faces” on the steps of the Capitol at pro-life events, and she is supporting Personhood. We haven’t received her survey yet, but we’re hopeful that she will develop into a strong pro-life leader.

Democrat Karen Stockley is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 54

There are no fewer than 4 Republicans running in this race -- David (Larry?) Cox, Robert Hislop, Duncan McArthur & Ray Scott. They've all been e-mailed if they had available contact information. Surely at least one of these guys is pro-life, but we don't know. Does anyone know them???

State House District 57

Republican candidate Randy Baumgardner responded to our survey, answering 6 of 7 questions correctly (he may have missed question #2 on rape/incest exceptions, or he might have avoided answering -- we're following up to find out for sure).

State House District 65

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) is running for re-election, so far unopposed. He is another of the strongly pro-life legislators who is pro-Personhood. We haven't gotten a survey from him this year, but he did respond "7 of 7" as 100% pro-life. He's also attended CRTL events, and we have no doubt of his sincerity.

Remember – because CRTL believes “pro-life” regulatory measures promote the impression that abortion is approved by the state, and may have unintended consequences which could support abortion and undermine the concept of a Right to Life, CRTL does not believe “pro-regulation” legislators fully understand the Personhood concept, though we still believe they are sincere and well-meaning in their pro-life convictions.

There may be other house candidates whose websites indicate a pro-life or pro-Personhood position. We have not had much time to research this, as we’ve been focused on the ballot initiative signature gathering process. If you have information on a candidate, please let us know by e-mailing office@coloradorighttolife.org.

If you have any questions about this information -- or if you have information to add -- please contact Donna at Colorado Right to Life (303-753-9394) or at office@coloradoRTL.org. Please don't be angry with her, if that's why you're calling, because she didn't collect or post this information. We are very interested in correcting any errors of fact or judgment on these pages, so please help us make this as correct as it can be (we will require verification of some type if your information contradicts the information we have).

Colorado State & Federal Candidate Positions & Survey Responses - May 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:15:00 +0000

This blog post is obsolete, having been superseded by information updated to mid-October 2010, which can be accessed by clicking here.

***UPDATE: Please Note (July 21): In just a few days, we will be updating some of this information on candidates, including Ken Buck (positive information), Dan Maes (positive information), Scott McInnis (negative information), Ryan Frazier (negative information) and Scott Tipton (negative information). Please hold onto your ballots for just a few days to see this new information in case it might affect your vote. In short, not every candidate who claims to be pro-life has been telling the whole story.***

This is a comprehensive list of all the information Colorado Right to Life has about the candidates running for office in the Colorado Caucus, Assembly & Primary season. We had published two previous releases of information on the candidates, in March and in April. The useful, updated information from both is included here, and we ask that you please consider this to supersede any older material.

If you're coming to the Colorado State Republican Assembly Saturday, or to any of the Congressional or legislative assemblies on Friday, please stop by our Personhood booth! We will also have representatives at the Sarah Palin event this weekend.

A brief, necessary introduction:

Colorado Right to Life pulls no punches -- if we have doubts about a candidate's sincerity, we'll tell you. The old definition of "pro-life" won't work. Personhood is the new definition -- a Right to Life from the beginning of biological development until natural death. No exceptions for rape or incest (if you have a Right to Life, it is inviolable). We also ask candidates not to "regulate" abortion, because a regulation implies a "right" to do whatever is being regulated (i.e. abortion). Candidates and legislators have been slow to adapt to these new definitions and stands, but they are definitely changing. Here are the questions they were asked in our survey: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/candidate-survey (at the bottom is also an explanation of our anti-regulation position, as well as a policy statement on "life of the mother" exceptions).

Personhood has been an issue in Colorado for only 2 years now -- it was first on the ballot in 2008, and is again on the ballot in 2010 (as Amendment 62 -- plus, it will soon be on the ballot in other states also, such as Mississippi in 2011). Don't accept a candidate who self-identifies as pro-life but who won't support Personhood, or won't respond to the Colorado Right to Life Candidate Survey. Someone who says they are pro-life but they have exceptions, or aren't willing to enact their pro-life principles in law are "pro-abortion with exceptions." Personhood IS the Right to Life -- someone who does not support Personhood does not support recognizing a God-given Right to Life in law!

In 2008, most major candidates were unwilling to take a stand on Personhood. It's possible that Bob Schaffer, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, lost because he did not endorse Personhood, and many voters did not consider him sufficiently pro-life. By contrast, in 2010, every credible Republican candidate for top statewide offices has said they support Personhood, and most of the credible Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and Congress have also expressed support for Personhood. Source: http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/prolife_measures_support_reviv

While we are excited that all these candidates support Personhood publicly, we question the sincerity of some, who may only be endorsing Personhood for reasons of political expediency (to avoid Schaffer's fate, perhaps?). Candidate Ali Hasan, for instance, encourages support for Personhood, and uses that as a reason people should vote for him and his principles. However, Hasan does not actually support the concept of Personhood -- he supports killing some children by abortion, for a variety of reasons, and may even support abortion until the 6th month of pregnancy!

Former Congressman Scott McInnis was formerly a ranking member of Republicans for Choice (a pro-abortion Republican group), and is known to have opposed pro-life measures and supported pro-abortion measures (even public funding) in the past. He says he has "changed his mind," but he was slow to endorse Personhood, and has made no firm pledges to do more than cut off public funding and end Partial Birth Abortion. We are naturally suspicious, but if he is really a convert we hope to see real commitments from him. Until then, Colorado Right to Life naturally prefers voters to support candidates who are known to have made solid pro-life statements or commitments (like responding to our survey).

We do not assume any candidate is pro-life unless they've responded to our candidate survey, or we have some other reason to trust their positions are sincere. CRTL does not officially endorse candidates for any office, but we will let you know which ones are NOT pro-life, and try to offer guidance on the rest. Please, NEVER assume a candidate is pro-life because of their party affiliation! CRTL does not support candidates from any particular political party -- if a candidate from the Constitution Party or even the Democrat Party is pro-life, we will let you know. We do not ever recommend voting for the "lesser of two evils" because we stand on very important principles which we will not compromise for purposes of political expediency.

Personhood -- support for the God-given Right to Life from the beginning of a human's biological development until natural death -- is CRTL's only real standard for judging a candidate's qualifications, though we do challenge candidates on several questions which relate closely to Personhood but which may be considered separate issues.

A final note: Because of our principled stand, many of our past financial supporters consider us extreme. If you appreciate our uncompromising principles in favor of a real, God-given Right to Life for all Persons, no exceptions, please consider supporting us financially. Most organizations do not hold to their principles because it's not profitable. That's not a reasonable excuse, and we will not follow, but there are consequences for standing up for what's right. Donations can be accepted here: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/donate

Here is what we know about the candidates running for office in Colorado. We cannot assume that a candidate is not pro-life just because they haven't responded to our survey, but we really don't know for sure. We are suspicious of any candidate who does not respond to our survey, and we hope you will be too. Encourage them to respond to the survey and refuse to support them if they don't. Our Survey has 7 questions, and response to 6 or 7 questions correctly (depending which ones) tell us that we're working with someone who has tremendous potential to be a leader, and who is close to being consistent on the God-given Right to Life. Though we have hesitations about candidates who respond to the "regulation" question incorrectly (because these candidates are willing to support "bad law" that will entrench the concept of abortion "rights" in this country despite the intent being to limit abortion), we will continue to work with them to explain the full Personhood concept and why "exceptions" and "regulations" were the cited reason for Roe v. Wade in the first place.

We have made serious efforts to reach most candidates for major offices, and if they have not responded that probably means they've ignored at least two attempts to contact them. Legislative candidates have all been e-mailed at least once, unless we had reason to believe they were pro-abortion.

U.S. Senate

Michael Bennet (D) is clearly pro-abortion, supports federal funding, Obama's health care, etc.

Andrew Romanoff (D) is also pro-abortion, supports Obama's health care, etc.

Republican Ken Buck is a credible candidate we consider very strongly pro-life and pro-Personhood, based on conversations with him. He is on record supporting Personhood, though we have not received his candidate questionnaire.

Republican Jane Norton has supported "abortion exceptions" in the past (i.e. for rape & incest, which is from our perspective "pro-abortion with exceptions"), and for some time refused to support Personhood. She was scheduled to meet with someone about Personhood, but the meeting hasn't happened yet despite every effort. However, she has apparently endorsed Personhood recently, along with the other Republican candidates for U.S. Senate. Questions to her campaign to confirm this went unanswered, and she has not responded to our survey, sent by certified letter, and she's had enough time to respond.

Again, we must question Jane Norton's sincerity on this issue, because she has seemed more reluctant than willing. She did participate in Gov. Owens' cutoff of Planned Parenthood from state funding, and we applaud her actions on that (as a cabinet member). She also is rumored to soon be endorsed by Sarah Palin, though that's certainly no indicator of pro-life status (Palin also endorsed John McCain against a pro-life opponent, despite McCain's long checkered history of occasional support for abortion and continued support for embryonic destruction, which Palin joined in endorsing).

Republican Cleve Tidwell has responded to our survey, and answered correctly on 7 of 7 questions -- he is strongly pro-Personhood. His responses to some other surveys were not as solid, but we believe he is sincere. He took the initiative to respond quickly to our survey, and we appreciate that he was our first respondent.

Tom Wiens (R) has traditionally been a pro-life legislator, and had promised to respond to our survey, but we haven't received it yet after a couple months of trying. He is petitioning onto the ballot, so will not be a candidate at the Assembly.

We do not have information on Maclyn Stringer, or John Finger, the two Libertarian Party candidates. Libertarians normally support abortion, but not always.

Governor

John Hickenlooper (D) is known to be pro-abortion.

Scott McInnis (R - Former Congressman) is the establishment candidate who the GOP thinks is "the man to beat Hickenlooper." He is running as a pro-life candidate, but is short on meaningful specifics. He was formerly a ranking member of the pro-abortion group Republicans for Choice, and is known to have supported some pro-abortion legislation (including taxpayer funding for abortions) and to have opposed some pro-life measures. He claims to have "changed his mind" about abortion, and has even expressed support for Personhood, but he has not responded to CRTL's survey (sent by certified letter 2 weeks ago, and also several times by e-mail), and we have real doubts about his sincerity. Don't believe his claims that he has a "pro-life voting record" -- HE DOES NOT.

National Right to Life (NRTL -- no current affiliation with Colorado Right to Life) scored him at 94% or 100% in each of his last 5 terms in office, however NRTL and some other notable pro-life groups are known to "rig" their scorecards to support Republicans even if they are substantially pro-abortion. NRTL rarely considers support for Embryonic Stem Cell Research a disqualifier, or support for chemical abortifacients. McInnis also missed a number of the votes NRTL scored (thus avoiding being graded down). Pro-life campaign workers have vouched for him (but they would -- they're employed by him, and campaigns carry a certain degree of "hero worship" with all staffers).

If McInnis has really changed his mind about abortion, he needs to start making solid commitments, like more vocal support of Personhood with promises to back it up.

We were impressed when Dan Maes (R) became only the second major candidate to respond to our candidate survey. We had a question about his original survey, and in time and after some dialogue he responded with support for 7 of 7 of CRTL's central points, as explained in our candidate survey. We consider him 100% pro-life, and are happy that he is doing so well in the Governor's race -- no one gave him a chance early on, but he's turned out to be a strong and credible candidate.

There is a new Republican candidate for Governor in just the past couple of weeks. Joe Gschwendtner. On day one, he announced support for a Right to Life from conception to natural death, and responded to our survey with 6 or 7 of 7 questions answered correctly (he left some wiggle room in a response on regulation, which we'll work to clarify).

Republican candidate Yoon Mager's website suggests she is "pro-abortion with exceptions" (our words, not hers). She supports some regulations or limits on abortion, but is otherwise supportive of abortion.

Constitution Party candidate Benjamin Goss is known to be a strong supporter of Personhood, and has signed the Personhood petition and responded correctly to 7 of 7 questions on the CRTL survey.

Secretary of State

Republican candidate Nancy Doty has either dropped out or never announced for this office. The only remaining Republican we're aware of is Scott Gessler, who has not responded to our survey.

Democrat incumbent Bernie Buescher is known to be pro-abortion.

Treasurer

This is an office where candidates normally don't take positions on life issues, but this year a strange competition has started between two of the candidates over who is more pro-life. It's also an important office, because traditionally the Treasurer's Office is a stepping stone into the Governor's Office (Lamm, Romer, Owens).

Democrat incumbent Cary Kennedy is assumed to be pro-abortion.

Republican candidate Walker Stapleton has not responded to our survey, and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life.

Republican Ali Hasan has sent a mailer to homes encouraging support for Amendment 62, the Personhood measure. However, he also implies he is strongly pro-life, which is very misleading. In actuality, he opposes taxpayer funding and opposes euthanasia, which is good. And he signed the Personhood petition. But we have reason to believe he has done so as a means to trick voters into thinking he is strongly pro-life. His position 2 years ago, and as far as we know still today, approved of abortion through all of the first two trimesters. He did not support a Right to Life at that time, and his own recent e-mail to CRTL confirms that he would only score 3 questions correct out of 7 if he responded to our survey. Ali Hasan may support having Amendment 62 on the ballot so people can choose, but he is NOT pro-life, even by traditional Republican measures, and CRTL certainly does not want any voter to vote for him because they believe he is.

Republican JJ Ament is the son of a former legislator who was pro-choice, but there's no reason to believe his son is pro-abortion. He has not responded to our survey, however, and so far all we have is his claim that he is pro-life. CRTL has received no firm commitment. For that matter, we're not even sure if he has endorsed Personhood, as his opponent Hasan has. He did not sign the petition, despite being asked.

*** Update on JJ Ament: We're told that in a conference call yesterday (May 19) JJ was asked about Personhood and he said former Senate candidate Bob Schaffer had talked him out of supporting it, even though he is "still" pro-life. Odd that he would accept the advice of someone who lost in large part due to his refusal to support Personhood (in other words, Republicans take this seriously -- Personhood IS the new definition of pro-life, anything less isn't good enough). ***

Attorney General

Republican incumbent John Suthers says he is pro-life, but he publicly opposes the Personhood Initiative, preferring incremental regulatory limits.

Suthers' office also did not cooperate with a request from pro-life groups to investigate Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains for failure to report teenage and pre-teen patients as possible rape cases (it is state law that underage pregnancies should be reported if there is a possibility that sexual abuse was involved).

We have no reason to believe Democrat candidate Stan Garnett is not pro-abortion.

1st Congressional District

Diana DeGette (D) is one of the most pro-abortion women in Congress.

Apparently, Steve Barton (R) has switched from running for the U.S. Senate to running for the 1st Congressional District. Barton has signed the Personhood petition, and is fully supportive of Personhood.

2nd Congressional District

Democrat incumbent Jared Polis is known to strongly support abortion.

Democrat Mike Niland is assumed to be pro-abortion (running for the Democrat nomination in Boulder -- easy assumption).

Republican candidate Bob Brancato responded to our survey, and supports Personhood (signed the petition) though it's not clear he understands Personhood very well. His responses are essentially 5 out of 7 correct. He still supports exceptions for rape and incest (i.e. pro-abortion with exceptions) and supports regulations. But these responses are promising for a candidate we've not had time to dialogue with. We'll keep working with him.

Republican candidate Stephen Bailey is a pro-abortion Republican. He had a conversation recently with a CRTL activist, who reported this. Bailey said he did not support a God-given Right to Life. He did not sign the Personhood petition. He opposes public funding of abortion, opposes Partial Birth Abortion, but says he would not vote to make abortion illegal "because people will still have abortions." (that's a reason?). He believes there's no consensus on abortion and it's a divisive issue, so he won't take a stand against it.

3rd Congressional District

Democrat incumbent John Salazar supports abortion.

Scott Tipton (R) has not responded to our survey (he did not respond at all in 2008 either). We have no reason to believe he is sincerely pro-life. Please encourage him to respond to the survey and prove our doubts wrong!

*** (Tipton Information just in - we are told an activist from 3rd Congressional has spoken to Scott Tipton who says he had not seen our survey - he says he is staunchly pro-life and opposes taxpayer funding - he has been re-sent the survey by e-mail and if we get his responses in coming days we will post it here as well as making a separate post - Tipton's office was sent the survey at least twice previously by e-mail, but I'm sure he gets lots of e-mail) (July 21 update -- we never heard from Tipton, he was just pandering)***

Bob McConnell (R) has responded to CRTL's survey, and he answered 6 out of 7 questions correctly. His only reservation was on the matter of supporting "regulatory" laws (which CRTL believes actually undermine the concept of Personhood, even though many pro-lifers believe regulations "save some babies"). This is a long-term discussion, and CRTL has been trying to educate the pro-life movement for a number of years, but many politicians still believe reulations are pro-life. On this particular matter, we believe strongly in a candidate's good intentions, and we will attempt to work with the candidate to change their opinion eventually.

4th Congressional District

Democrat incumbent Betsy Markey defeated pro-Personhood Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave in 2008 using a pro-abortion, anti-social-conservative platform.

Republican candidate Diggs Brown has dropped out, and we don't know much about Dean Madere except that he claims to be pro-life.

Cory Gardner (R) has been an outstanding pro-life legislator, and has attended a number of CRTL functions, including two Legislative luncheons/breakfasts (something most legislators don't attend). We value his dedication to these issues! Cory has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 questions answered correctly, without any reservations or exceptions. He supported Personhood in 2008 also.

Tom Lucero (R) also responded with 7 of 7 questions correct!

Mike Nelson is a Unity Party candidate, and he responded to our survey that in no uncertain terms he supports "abortion rights" 100%. He is clearly hostile to the concept of Personhood.

5th Congressional District

To the best of our knowledge, pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn is running without primary opposition this year. While he has not yet responded to our survey, he has supported Personhood (Human Life Amendment) legislation at the national level, and we are confident his support will continue.

6th Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Mike Coffman has a history of association with Colorado Right to Life, has responded favorably to the CRTL survey in the past with 7 of 7 responses correct. No response this year, but we don't have any reason to believe he's changed his position on Personhood.

7th Congressional District

Incumbent Democrat Ed Perlmutter is pro-abortion.

Republican Lang Sias has said he is pro-life, but we cannot confirm this as we have not heard from him, even after a registered letter was sent to his campaign office.

Republican Ryan Frazier claims to be pro-life BUT HE IS NOT. He supports certain limits on abortion, but is willing to go no further. He has not responded to CRTL's survey (sent several times by e-mail, and 2 weeks ago by certified letter), and we expect he would score badly if he did. Frazier speaks as if he is one of us, but he wants you to ignore statements like he made to Westword, "I am not a fan of abortion, but I struggle with whether it is the appropriate role of the government to place itself there." That's like struggling with the role of government to ban slavery. The Aurora Sentinel said, "Frazier's shown a more liberal bent in his approach on social issues, however, voicing support for same-sex couples and expressing a measured stance on government regulation of abortion." He also has ignored a registered letter to his campaign asking for his survey responses. The statements on his website and in person are cleverly worded to sound like he's on our side, but many of these same things were said by John Kerry and other pro-abortion Republicans and Democrats.

Republican candidate Mike Sheely has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 responses correct, and has also attended a Colorado Right to Life breakfast where we discussed strategy and philosophy. We value his attention to these issues.

Republican Michael Deming has said he's not sure where he stands on abortion, but would oppose federal funding. Obviously not a committed pro-life candidate.

This concludes our review of candidates for State and Federal offices. We will soon post our results for candidates for legislative (State House and Senate) offices.

Each of the Republican candidates have been contacted at least once, most of them twice by e-mail. The credible Republican candidates for Governor, Senate and 7th Congressional were sent certified letters two weeks ago to remind them we would be posting these results. Anyone in those categories who has not responded is probably ignoring us for strategic reasons, which makes us suspicious of their motives.

We have also contacted most Democrat candidates by e-mail at least once, as well as candidates for the Libertarian Party and Constitution Party, Unity Party, etc, though not all of these candidates are yet known so some may not have been contacted. The information has also been up on our website so people can respond if they look for it.

Candidates who have not responded are still welcome and encouraged to respond -- we will post them as they respond.

If you're looking for responses from Legislative candidates (State House or State Senate) that information can be found here: http://coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2010/05/colorado-legislative-candidate.html

Response to Eagle Forum on Personhood

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:40:00 +0000

(feel free to print this and bring it with you to your assembly as a handout or reference)

Dear Pro-Life Voter:

Please support the Personhood Amendment #62! The most fundamental right recognized by our Constitution is the God-given right to life. It is government’s foremost duty to uphold the right to life of all innocent human beings, without exception. The Personhood Amendment – Amendment 62 on Colorado's November ballot –recognizes the right to life of unborn children from the beginning of their biological development as a human being.

Forty states currently are following Colorado's leadership and trying, through legislation or ballot initiatives, to get Personhood recognized for the unborn child. This has transformed the pro-life movement and given it new energy! For the first time in recent history, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we may see abortion prohibited in the relatively near future.

Unfortunately, many politicians, including Republicans, and even some pro-life groups fear losing control of the agenda. They are trying to smother the Personhood movement in its crib! You may see an Eagle Forum flyer here (at political gatherings) today, spreading misleading statements.

They mean to discourage pro-lifers by pointing out that our 2008 measure only received 27% support – the first time any state has ever voted on Personhood. They say we should not try again. What successful social movement has ever given up after its first try? What if the anti-slavery movement had quit at their first setback? What if Britain had surrendered to Hitler because victory seemed impossible? It's not leadership to say, “We tried once and failed, so we should stop.”

In 2008 conventional wisdom held that only one out of eight people would vote for a total abortion ban. Yet in our first time on the ballot we received over 600,000 votes, more than doubling what was expected, in a state that had just elected a pro-abortion governor and president. With a well-run campaign, in this non-presidential election year, where just some Personhood voters bring another voter to the polls, we could win. Of slavery, the Holocaust, and abortion, we're now at two down and one to go!

The anti-personhood flyer claims pro-abortion groups are “enriched” by getting to fight the Personhood amendments in several states. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood don't see it that way. They're suing to keep Personhood amendments off the ballot in Missouri, Alaska, and Nevada, and they've announced that they might sue here in Colorado. (We're ready for them if they do.) And Mississippi has already certified their state's Personhood Amendment to be on the ballot, and signatures are being collected by the hundreds of thousands in Florida and California and elsewhere. Further, the pro-abortion group NARAL put Personhood USA, parent group of one of our sponsors, on their national Hall of Shame! What an honor! They fear what we can see: that Personhood has ignited a broad base of grassroots activity with more being done to stop abortion than any time in the last twenty years!

The “pro-life” opponents of Personhood claim “it’s not the right time,” but it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. They say they want to back Personhood “eventually,” but the US Supreme Court is not yet “ready” to support a pro-life measure. This admission comes after decades of their efforts to change the court, which admission is proof from their own mouths that their strategy is utterly failing. Republicans have nominated the majority of the federal judiciary, and the federal courts are overwhelmingly pro-abortion, so we need a new, direct strategy of teaching the public and our politicians the difference between right and wrong.

After decades of electing pro-life presidents, there is not a single Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court who has ever once advocated the right to life of the unborn child. So National Right To Life has never been able to claim the $10,000 offered them for simply naming a single pro-life Supreme Court Justice. That check is already written and remains un-cashed in the office of the Colorado-based American Right To Life.

Eagle Forum points to a memo by National Right To Life attorney James Bopp, which claims they fear a challenge to Roe v. Wade now might “make things worse.” Fear never won a fight. Over a million children will die from abortion this year! Fifty million dead children and they are afraid to pursue victory because things might get worse? That's like giving in to terrorists because we don't want to make them mad. Tragically, National Right To Life's general counsel tried to compromise the Republican Party platform by modifying it to support embryonic stem cell research, which is lethal experiments, on the tiniest children, little boys and girls just like the snowflake children, the adopted frozen embryos who themselves are the proof that these are precious little children. Thank God that National Right To Life's attorney failed.

That failed strategy, the old pro-life approach, of electing politicians who are pro-life, who will appoint judges who are pro-life, has failed because we didn’t have “quality control” and all our candidates, without opposition from NRTL, openly admitted that they would ignore abortion when nominating judges. And the proof is in the pudding, along with the poison, of scores of pro-abortion judges that we have unwittingly put on the bench. We need to teach our politicians that there is an actual right to life (i.e. Personhood)! We need to insist that they appoint judges who acknowledge the God-given right to life of each child. Where we stand right now, we don’t need “one more pro-life justice” – we need five! That old strategy has proved an utter failure.

What’s more, we’ve been teaching the American public the wrong lessons. When we say “the unborn child has a right to life!” and then turn around and promote laws to protect some babies, but not others, the American people rightly detect hypocrisy!

Footnote 54 of Roe v. Wade ruling (which tragically was written by a Republican Justice, Harry Blackman, and passed by a Republican majority) points out this very thing – that you cannot say the unborn child is a Person, and then say there are some circumstances when that innocent Person can be killed. That hypocrisy was cited as the reason why abortion was decriminalized– because existing "pro-life" laws actually didn’t recognize unborn children as Persons. But the Roe v. Wade decision itself also said that if a law were passed to recognize the Personhood of the unborn child, then the Supreme Court would have to protect unborn children under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment!

Personhood is a legal strategy, aimed at that "loophole" in Roe. But more than that, Personhood is a social movement, trying for the first time in 30 years to convince the American public that there exists an actual, God-given right to life for innocent children – no exceptions! Imagine the outcry if a massive body of citizens cried out to stop the slaughter, and the courts or politicians stood by and did nothing! They cannot. Personhood will force the politicians and the courts to change – if we insist our politicians support Personhood, then eventually the courts will follow.

Some defeated folks claim we have no power to change things, and we must accept the world as it is. They have no hope for victory, and they want you to abandon hope also. Their reasoning is all based on political calculation and conventional wisdom. But they forget that Christian social movements changed the world by relying on God’s wisdom! Remember the anti-slavery movement! Remember the civil rights movement! These were not secular in nature – these movements were Christian at their core! They dared to believe God would help them, and they changed the world!

That’s the promise of Personhood. In 2008 Colorado launched this strategy, and in 2010 there are 40 states following the example of our first “failure!” We’ve just now set out! We must press forward and not look back!

Press forward with us! Personhood for the unborn child – NOW!!!

Amendment 62 Co-Sponsors
Leslie Hanks
Colorado Right To Life

Gualberto Garcia Jones
303-456-2800
Personhood Colorado

Early April Update - Candidate Surveys

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:24:00 +0000

CRTL continues to get new responses to our candidate surveys. We've tried to get responses earlier this year, so that you can use this information in your county, congressional district, and state assemblies in order to support candidates who you know are pro-life!

Please help us with this process by asking the candidates to respond to our survey so that you know where they stand. Don't accept simple claims like "I'm 100% pro-life" -- see if they have the guts to put their commitment on paper (and on the Internet).

In mid-March we posted a large amount of information on many races and candidates. This pre-caucus information can be found here (you're likely to find your candidates listed there -- add this posts's information to the info in that older post, and you'll be up to date).

Here's the new information:

Governor of Colorado

CRTL has no additional reason to believe Scott McInnis' claim that he is "100% pro-life". He still has not responded to the survey, and refuses to make concrete commitments. We are distrustful, because he will not go on record with specific promises, most particularly with regard to Amendment 62, the Personhood Amendment.

On the other hand, we retain one major reservation for candidate Dan Maes too, and that is that he believes embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) can be allowed within limited circumstances. Despite his promise to support Personhood, this position is incompatible with the Personhood position, because it means he supports "limited" killing of unborn children. We will continue to dialogue with him on this, and we're hopeful that he will come around to our point of view once he has more time to examine the issue. Please encourage him to do so.

Constitution Party candidate Benjamin Goss has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 questions answered correctly!

U.S. Senate

Not much information to add, here.

Candidate Tom Wiens has promised to respond to the survey, and sounds like he intends to answer properly, but we still have not received his survey (he is petitioning on, and won't be a candidate at the assembly).

We are still concerned about Jane Norton's stated support for abortion exceptions, and she has not yet supported Personhood or responded to the survey. Please encourage her to take a stand on these issues, but for now we do not believe her positions qualify her as pro-life.

Candidates Ken Buck, Cleve Tidwell and Steve Barton are considered pro-life (only Tidwell has returned his candidate survey -- please encourage the others to do so!).

Treasurer Race

We still have not heard from JJ Ament one way or another on Personhood, or on the candidate survey. He claims to be pro-life, but so far this is only a claim. Please encourage him to return the survey.

Candidate Ali Hasan holds positions which support the killing of some unborn children, which means we do not consider him pro-life. At one point he seemed to be trying to run as a pro-life candidate. He remains open to dialogue, though, and we intend to follow through with him.

(Note added May 16: Ali Hasan's recent mailer implies that CRTL supports him, but we do not support any candidate who is not 100% pro-life, which means answering at least 6 out of 7 questions of our survey correctly - Hasan answered only 3 correctly. More info can be found in our earlier candidate survey post here: http://coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2010/03/pre-caucus-update-candidate-positions.html - CRTL still has not heard from JJ Ament as to whether he supports Personhood, and have not received his survey, nor have we heard from Stapleton)

We have not heard anything from Walker Stapleton, and have no reason to believe he is pro-life.

Congressional District 2

Candidate Bob Brancato has indicated he intends to respond to our survey, but we have not received his survey yet.

Congressional District 4

Diggs Brown states on his website that he is pro-life, but we believe he has suspended his candidacy.

Cory Gardner and Tom Lucero both responded 7 of 7 to our survey.

Congressional District 7

We have not yet heard from either Ryan Frazier or Lang Sias in this important race. Please encourage them to return their surveys, or at least to take a public stand on the Personhood Amendment, Amendment 62.

Republican candidate Mike Sheely did return his survey, and answered correctly on 7 of 7 questions!

State Senate District 2

Republican candidate Kevin Grantham has responded to our survey, answering 7 of 7 questions correctly!

Grantham faces primary opponents, but we have not heard from them.

State Senate District 3

Republican candidate Alexander Lucero-Mugatu has responded to our survey, responding correctly to 6 of 7 questions. His response to question #2, on rape & incest exceptions, makes us think he does not necessarily support prohibiting abortion for rape or incest (which undermines the Personhood of the unborn child), but we will work with him on these apparent exceptions. For now, it remains a red flag, and we hope that a supporter will be able to speak with him about this.

Mugatu faces a Republican primary, but we have not heard from his opponents.

State Senate District 5

Republican candidate Wayne Wolf has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 questions answered correctly! He did indicate a possible exception for certain regulations, but it sounds like he is very close to our position, and we can work with him on defining specifics.

Wolf faces a Republican primary, but we have not heard from his opponent.

State House District 35

Candidate Edgar Antillon indicated he would be responding to our survey, but we have not received it yet. He says he is pro-life.

State House District 57

Republican candidate Randy Baumgardner responded to our survey, answering 6 of 7 questions correctly (he may have missed question #2 -- we'll follow up with him on this question, regarding exceptions to allow abortion for rape & incest).

As we said earlier, we have heard from dozens more candidates than those listed here -- click the link at the top of the page to see a more comprehensive list (though some information on this list may supersede that information).

From elsewhere....

In addition to these candidates, it might be important to note that Congressional candidate Jeffrey Locke, running for Kansas' 2nd District, has also responded 7 of 7 to our survey (which would normally be covered by American Right to Life, though they have not been able to send surveys yet). Thank you, Jeff Locke!

Updated Information Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:17:00 +0000

Please "watch this space!"

We will be posting updated information on candidates who have responded to our Candidate Survey, as well as more information on the Personhood Amendment (on the ballot as Amendment 62) to counter some disinformation being distributed against it.

We'll have this up within 24 hours so you'll be able to use it at your County Assembly.

Personhood Works, Regulations Don't

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Kyffin) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:28:00 +0000

(reposted from Look on the Right Side - the author has said that anyone may re-post this with attribution, so please do in order to spread this important truth)

This is a more coherent recap & expansion on my earlier blog post on regulations, and why they undermine the Personhood of the unborn child -- "How We Compromise Ourselves."

I do not question the well-meaning intentions of those legislators who support, or even write, compromise legislation which tries to put limits on abortion in circumstances where a total abortion ban is not realistically possible. We can argue later about which is more "politically realistic" (I think Personhood is, still). But the fact that I believe in the good intentions of the pro-life regulators does not mean that I don't care whether they stop pushing regulations -- I do! -- or that I approve of what they're doing -- I don't! -- or that I will always continue to support regulation-minded legislators if they continue to ignore warnings about the unintended consequences of what they do.

I think the main thing “pro-life regulators” need to understand is that, whether or not Personhood is "practical" in a legal sense (which is the main objection of those pro-lifers who oppose the Personhood strategy, including Archbishop Charles Chaput and Clarke Forsythe of AUL), our primary problem as pro-lifers is that we've been making the wrong argument -- one which won't "change peoples' hearts" (which everybody agrees is the goal, and yet incrementalists are convinced they DO have the right argument).

The regulations may teach some people about the Right to Life, but more often (esp. for wishy-washy or "moderate" citizens, who are the ones we need to convince in order to succeed in passing legislation or electing legislators) regulations only suggest a "moderate" solution exists for what they are led to believe is a policy question -- where do you draw the line?

Let me restate that.

Regulations clearly “suggest” to a citizen observer that there’s a policy question, to which there are “extreme” solutions (to right or left) and “moderate” solutions. Typical American citizens being who they are, almost all of the people in this category (i.e. the moderate, middle-of-the-road people who don’t often think about policy issues, but when they do they try to find a middle ground, striving never to seem “extreme”) will seek the middle ground – the moderate way – and won’t see the larger implications of the issue at hand.

The argument pro-lifers need to make -- and Personhood makes this argument 100% of the time, while regulations may succeed in making it only 30% of the time -- is that there is an actual Right to Life which is inalienable as a principle, and may not be violated for any reason. That message comes through with Personhood, and it's making progress.

I’ll restate that too.

Personhood “suggests” to a citizen observer that abortion is most certainly NOT a policy question with a spectrum of possible solutions, but is rather a question of principles. Two principles, as it happens – either pro-life or pro-abortion. When the abortion “question” is posed as a principle, and not as a policy question, Americans are actually more likely to choose life instead of death.

Polls show something like 80-90% of Americans believe “there is a God,” even if most of them may not call themselves Christian or correctly follow the teachings of the true God. Believing in God suggests an absolute moral standard, and when the abortion question is measured against an absolute moral standard, very few Americans want to be caught on the wrong, or immoral, side. Since they’re forced to choose between a principle of “abortion is right and moral” versus “abortion is always wrong” one option stands out as more correct and more moral than the other.

That’s the “practical” reason why pro-lifers must reject regulations and embrace the Personhood strategy. The Personhood strategy accomplishes what we want to accomplish – a changing of hearts and minds in society – whereas regulations are far less effective in accomplishing the change we want.

Our message always gets muddled when we're talking about regulations, because every regulation inherently denies there is a Right to Life (if there were an inalienable, inviolable Right to Life, then there's nothing to regulate!).

Consider this line from the text of Roe v. Wade: "Endnote 54: When Texas urges that a fetus is entitled to Fourteenth Amendment protection as a person, it faces a dilemma. Neither in Texas nor in any other State are all abortions prohibited. Despite broad proscription, an exception always exists. The exception contained in Art. 1196, for an abortion procured or attempted by medical advice for the purpose of saving the life of the mother, is typical. But if the fetus is a person who is not to be deprived of life without due process of law, and if the mother's condition is the sole determinant, does not the Texas exception appear to be out of line with the Amendment's command?"

The US Supreme Court in 1972/73 didn't simply lay a roadmap for pro-lifers by noting that if you establish Personhood in law, you can protect the unborn as Persons. They also highlighted the logical error in the "pro-life with exceptions" mentality.

The key point is this: The Supreme Court logically concluded that because Texas had an exception to their anti-abortion statute*, Texas could not simultaneously argue that an unborn child was a Person under their law, because the two concepts – a regulation vs. a principle – are contradictory. The regulation always denies the principle, so if there exists a regulation, then the principle must not be the law of the land. It’s simple logic.

Ed Hanks

* A note on "life of the mother exceptions": Many pro-lifers get stuck on the “life of the mother” exception, because it’s the most compelling of the “hard cases” exceptions some regulations are meant to address (how many times have we heard politicians recite the line, "I oppose abortion except for rape, incest, and the life of the mother"?). But we need not fall victim even to the life of the mother objection. The Personhood movement cares deeply about the lives of both, mother and child, especially since if the mother dies before the baby comes to term, the child will obviously die too. However, that doesn’t mean we need a “life of the mother exception” in law. Instead, the anti-abortion statute should be absolute. The life of the mother is saved by a doctor trying to save both lives (and thereby “do no harm”), not by a doctor trying to kill one patient in order to save the other. It’s the same concept as separating cojoined twins. The goal should always be to preserve both lives. This is not always possible, because of relative viability, and so sometimes one of the patients dies. The measure of crime or not is intent. If ever the doctor attempts to kill one patient, rather than save him/her, that’s where it becomes homicide.