Joe O’Dea Can’t Be Trusted on Abortion
“[B]ig margins also believe that [...] electing O’Dea would make it more likely that the Senate would vote to ban abortion.”
A new poll from Global Strategy Group finds that “nearly two thirds of voters believe that if the GOP takes power in Colorado, they will try to ban abortion here; and big margins also believe that if they take power in DC, they’d try to ban abortion nationwide and that electing O’Dea would make it more likely that the Senate would vote to ban abortion.”
GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea continues to undermine his own misleading claims on abortion by campaigning with anti-abortion extremists and labeling himself as “personally pro-life” in the most recent Church Voter Guide. He recently campaigned with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst who reportedly pushed for a national abortion ban and blocked a bill that would have provided guaranteed access to birth control.
This comes on the heels of O’Dea signing a petition to put an abortion ban on Colorado’s 2020 ballot which sparked outrage because it is “at odds with his position on abortion today.”
Other O’Dea anti-abortion surrogates include Tim Scott and Barbara Kirkmeyer. Tim Scott says he’s “committed to protecting the unborn” and voted for a 20-week abortion ban. And congressional candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer signed a petition in support of personhood, opposes abortion in all cases, and voted to ban the Plan B abortion pill.
Colorado Times Recorder: Abortion the Main Issue in 2022 Elections According to Recent Poll
Abortion has been a major issue in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Republican businessman Joe O’Dea. Throughout the campaign, O’Dea has tried to stake out a middle position between hardline anti-abortion voices in the Republican base and the fact that abortion is overwhelmingly a popular issue with voters.
According to Mountaineer poll, “Nearly two thirds of voters believe that if the GOP takes power in Colorado, they will try to ban abortion here; and big margins also believe that if they take power in DC, they’d try to ban abortion nationwide and that electing O’Dea would make it more likely that the Senate would vote to ban abortion.”
O’Dea has claimed that while he doesn’t support Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA), which enshrined abortion protections in Colorado law, he also claimed he did not support the overturn of Roe. But he also said he would support the confirmation of the justices that overturned Roe. O’Dea also signed the petition to get failed Proposition 115 on the ballot, which would have banned abortion after 22 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest.
In his response to a Church Voter Guide question about protecting the “unborn,” O’Dea responded, “I was raised a Catholic and I was adopted. I am personally pro-life. I also think the men and women who adopt and provide foster care are real-life heroes.”
Yesterday O’Dea campaigned in Castle Rock with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who has pushed for a federal abortion ban and blocked legislation to guarantee access to contraceptives.
O’Dea has consistently tried to shift focus away from abortion, claiming he isn’t running on “social issues,” but rather the economy and inflation. The Mounaineer poll found that among voter concerns, abortion actually trumps the economy. “When abortion is matched against taxes and inflation as an issue, it shifts the votes significantly towards Democrats,” notes the poll. “The political benefit for Democrats is biggest among center-right white voters, particularly white non-college voters and those outside of the Denver Metro region.”