Colorado Reporter Calls Out Senate Candidate Cory Gardner For Hiding Extreme Stance On Personhood
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on October 16th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Colorado Reporter Calls Out Senate Candidate Cory Gardner For Hiding Extreme Stance On Personhood
A Colorado reporter called out Republican Senate candidate Cory Gardner’s efforts to conceal the fact that the federal personhood bill he co-sponsored would end abortion, a refreshing contrast to other media figures’ refusal to hold Gardner accountable for his stance.
In the October 15 debate between Gardner and Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall, Kyle Clark, a reporter for NBC-affiliate KUSA, pressed Gardner on his continued denial that the Life At Conception Act is a federal personhood bill that would effectively end abortion procedures, by granting human eggs at fertilization the rights of a living person. Clark emphasized the fact that Gardner is a co-sponsor of the bill, which independent fact checkers widely agree would end abortion, and asked what the candidate’s denial says about his judgment and willingness to hide the truth:
CLARK: You continue to deny that the federal Life At Conception Act, which you sponsor, is a personhood bill to end abortion — and we are not going to debate that here tonight because that’s a fact. Your co-sponsors say so; your opponents say so; and independent fact-checkers say so. So let’s instead talk about what this entire episode may say about your judgment more broadly. It would seem that a charitable interpretation would be that you have a difficult time admitting when you’re wrong, and a less charitable interpretation is that you’re not telling us the truth. Which is it?
Gardner’s support for personhood legislation has previously been glossed over by many in the media. The Denver Post‘s editorial board endorsed the candidate by claiming he posed “no threat to abortion rights,” a declaration that completely ignores Gardner’s support of the federal personhood legislation that would severely handicap women’s access to health care and legal abortion.
Syndicated Washington Post columnist George Will echoed the Denver Post‘s endorsement, claiming that the issue of reproductive rights had already been settled and would not be affected by Gardner’s election.
Thankfully, as Clark made clear in his questioning of Gardner, not all media figures are willing to give Gardner a pass on his incomprehensible personhood stance.
