Under questioning from a hard-line abortion opponent this morning, a Colorado congressional candidate said he’d support a national abortion ban, performing a perfect flip-flop from his answer to the exact same question in January.
Asked by KNUS radio host Jeff Hunt this morning if he’d support a “national ban on abortions” if elected to Congress, former state House Minority Leader Mike Lynch (R-Wellington) replied, “You know, in the event that that would come up, yes. I don’t think it will.”
Asked the same question at a Republican Women of Weld debate about six weeks ago, Lynch said, “No I would not support that. I mean it’s really tempting to think that’s a good idea when you live in the most pro-abortion state in the nation. It’s disgusting. However, that is a states’ rights issue.” (Listen at 1:06:45 here.) Lynch’s answer on Jan. 25 came in response to this question from debate moderator George Brauchler: “If elected to Congress, would you support a federal election ban, and if you were to support any sort of limitation on abortion at the federal level, what would it be?”
In his radio interview this morning Lynch also said, “We’ve kind of decided that question with the Roe v Wade thing. So I am a firm believer in the process. So right now where we are at in that process is that Roe v Wade said it’s a states’ issue. So let’s figure out a smart way of getting states to be in the right place on that.”
Lynch didn’t respond to an email seeking an explanation for his different responses to the same question.
For Lynch, the right way for Colorado to regulate abortion at the state level is to ban the procedure completely. He’s a co-sponsor of a bill in the Colorado House that would outlaw abortion, even for pregnancies resulting from rape.
State Rep. Richard Holtorf (R-Akron), who’s one of Lynch’s GOP opponents in his race to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District (CD4), sits in the state Legislature but, unlike Lynch, has not sponsored the abortion-ban legislation. Like Lynch, Holtorf opposes a federal abortion ban. During the July 25 Republican Women of Weld debate, Holtorf said, “If we say the federal government can ban abortions, what else will they ban? What will the tyranny of the federal government bring to bear on American citizens? We already see that by weaponizing federal agencies. So what else will it be? And that scares me.”
Three other GOP candidates in Lynch’s race also oppose a national ban: Weld County Council member Trent Leisy, former congressional staffer Chris Phelan, and businessman Peter Yu. Phelan has said he’d support passage of a heartbeat bill at the state level, which would ban abortion after about six weeks. “That doesn’t make me any less pro-life than anyone else up here. It makes it about the Constitution and what the Supreme Court decided,” said Phelen at a candidate forum. The positions of Leisy and Yu on state abortion legislation aren’t known.
In the same KNUS show this morning, former state lawmaker Janak Joshi, who’s running to represent Colorado’s 8th Congressional District (CD8), told Hunt he supports a national abortion ban: “If it comes, I will [vote for it]. But I have a feeling that we are not going to have it. Even Trump wants to have a compromise.”
Joshi’s GOP opponents in CD8 — state Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Ft. Lupton) and businessman Joe Andujo — both oppose a national abortion ban and want states to create their own abortion laws. Both also oppose Roe v. Wade.
In interviews with the Colorado Times Recorder, Joshi and Andujo wouldn’t comment on the abortion ban bill currently in the state Legislature, saying they had not reviewed it.
As a Colorado state representative, Evans — who’s indicated support for a near-total abortion ban in the past — could have been a co-sponsor of the abortion ban bill in the Legislature. But his name is not listed as a sponsor.
