Congressional candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Republican who’s favored banning abortion in Colorado, doesn’t think abortion will determine whether undecided voters choose her or her pro-choice opponent, Dr. Yadira Caraveo.
In a Friday radio interview, Kirkmeyer said voters for whom abortion is the driving factor have already decided whom to vote for.
“I know my Democrat opponent, when she looks at it, and we see a poll that says, ‘Oh, 8% of the people say that abortion is their number one issue, and that’s what’s going to decide it for them,’ those people are already decided, and they’re all not pro-choice and they’re all not pro-life.”
A progressive poll, released this month, shows that abortion is a key issue motivating voters statewide.
Kirkmeyer’s office did not respond to an email seeking her evidence that the abortion issue won’t affect undecided voters — or motivate voter turnout — regardless of voters’ prioritization of issues.
“The truth is, the majority of Coloradans support a woman’s right to choose,” said Caraveo Campaign Manager Elana Schrager said in a statement. “Barb Kirkmeyer knows that, which is why she has spent months trying to cover up her support for an extreme federal abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.
“As a doctor, Dr. Yadira Caraveo believes that government officials shouldn’t make a woman’s choice for her — it should be left to a woman, her family, and her doctor. As Yadira continues to build momentum heading into Election Day, it’s no surprise Kirkmeyer is now working overtime to hide her own extreme views from Colorado voters.”
Kirkmeyer’s anti-abortion stance has been clear for decades.
The end of Roe, which guaranteed the right to abortion early in pregnancy, was an “exciting day for those of us who have toiled for the pro-life cause for so long!” wrote Kirkmeyer this year.
Kirkmeyer has said she’s against all abortion, whatever the circumstances, at whatever stage of pregnancy, even for rape and incest. She’s now saying she favors abortion to save the mother’s life.
Caraveo, a medical doctor, is a pro-choice Democrat who’s promised to “fight to guarantee a woman’s right to choose at the federal level, just as we’ve done in Colorado.”
“As a health care provider, I give the pregnant women and teens that I care for choices about their futures. To live in a world where I have to tell them they have no choices is devastating,” she wrote on Facebook.
Kirkmeyer also said that in her experience canvassing the homes of Unaffiliated voters in her district, less than one-half of one percent have made abortion the driving factor in their decision on whom to vote for.
“It’s less than half of a percent,” said Kirkmeyer, when asked on KHOW how many Unaffiliated voters bring up abortion as “something that sounds like it’s driving their vote.”
But Kirkmeyer is likely speaking with targeted voters who may lean Republican. But this is unknown because she didn’t comment on this article.
Caraveo and Kirkmeyer are vying to represent the 8th Congressional District, which lies mostly north of Denver. The district was assigned to Colorado after the 2020 Census, and it’s expected to be among the most competitive races in November.
UPDATE 11/1/22 8 p.m. — A statement from Caraveo Campaign Manager Elana Schrager was added.
