Last week, Cory Gardner penned an op-ed in support of over-the-counter birth control. What he didn’t mention in the op-ed is his lengthy and consistent record of fighting on the wrong side of women’s issues. He has fought to take away women’s right to choose, voted to potentially deny women life-saving abortion procedures, advocated defunding Planned Parenthood and tried to redefine rape as “forcible rape.”
And it’s not just a historical problem for Gardner–it’s a current one. Even as he attempts to flip, twist and turn himself into a moderate, Gardner is still cosponsoring a personhood bill that would criminalize common forms of birth control and ban abortions without exception.
Gardner has spent his career in Congress championing laws that seek to limit women’s rights. His name remains on extreme legislation that would take women back to darker times. If he thinks that he can suddenly brand himself as a women’s advocate and a centrist, etch-a-sketching his way to the Senate, why that’s every bit as insulting to women as his record.
Published: Jun 23, 2014