A leading Colorado Republican, who lost a bid for statewide office in 2018, is counseling fellow Republicans not to dodge questions on abortion in this year’s election, saying people won’t accept statements like, “It’s a tough issue to tackle.”

“That’s going to become an issue that every single person running for every single office, probably even school board, is asked about. What’s your position on abortion?” said Braucher on his KNUS show Dec. 13, pointing out that the U.S. Supreme Court will make a consequential decision about abortion rights around June.

“People want to know where you stand on this. ‘Hey, I’m pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, health-of-the-mother.’ Or, ‘I am pro-life across the board.’ Or, ‘Hey I think there ought to be abortion up until the second before that baby–‘ People are going to want answers,” he continued.

“We know Republican voters support abortion access because they’ve voted against abortion bans at the ballot box over and over,” said Karen Middleton, President of Cobalt, an abortion-rights group, in response to Brauchler’s comment. “But Republican politicians like [former Colorado Senator] Cory Gardner dodged the question. It would indeed be good to know on the record whether Republican candidates and politicians agree with the vast majority of Coloradans in supporting abortion rights. Even more broadly, Colorado voters do not believe in government interference in reproductive health care.”

It’s hard to find elected Republicans in Colorado who favor abortion rights, while Republicans in the state legislature and elsewhere have pushed for a complete abortion ban here. Colorado’s three GOP members of Congress recently called for an end to Roe v. Wade.

Brauchler briefly ran for governor in 2018 before dropping out to launch a failed bid to be the state’s attorney general.

During his 2018 race, he called those with concerns about Roe v. Wade “fearmongers,” and he indicated that he personally thinks Roe was wrongly decided, but he was vague on his own abortion stance during the 2018 campaign.

Brauchler has criticized reporters for pressing candidates on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, but he indicated that abortion questions were fair game.

Still, he urged Republican candidates to be prepared with precise answers to questions both on abortion and the 2020 election. For his part, Brauchler has denounced election conspiracies.

Listen to Brauchler on Dec. 13, 2021 here: