Stunningly Ignorant Tea Party Candidate Bob Beauprez Said IUD’s Cause Abortions

Bob Beauprez, Colorado’s Republican candidate for Governor, has said a lot of things that help him stand out as a Tea Party extremist.

He’s already put repeal of marijuana legalization on his platform, and managed to campaign alongside Romney not long after echoing Mitt’s sentiments that 47% of Americans “are happy” to be dependent on the government. Beauprez isn’t shy bringing up his Tea Party agenda. So, of course one has to wonder how extremist Beauprez’s agenda is when it comes to abortion. In fact, it’s very extreme.

A lot of Beauprez’s extreme beliefs comes down to semantics and inflection. He likes to twist the meaning or imply there are hidden meanings in what he says. For example, while Beauprez says he “opposes the Personhood Amendment” in Colorado, he’s all for “personhood” status for fetuses and (possibly) fertilized eggs. He thinks that the IUD contraceptive device shouldn’t be allowed as contraception, labeling them “abortifacients” — even though the medical community has resoundingly labeled this as not grounded in any medical fact. IUD’s work to prevent — not terminate — pregnancies.

From the Denver Post:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and 10 other physician organizations, as well as the Federal Drug Administration, define IUDs as contraceptives that prevent a pregnancy. An abortifacient ends a pregnancy after it has occurred.

Dr. Daniel Grossman, an ob/gyn who does reproductive research and who practices in San Francisco, said the definition of a pregnancy as the implantation of a fertilized egg is an established scientific standard. He said IUDs are not abortifacient.

“I would say in mainstream medicine, this is really not a debate,” Grossman said.

In fact, most of the platform Bob Beauprez is running on center on his beliefs system — a belief that Americans are lazy, a belief that marijuana does bad things to communities, and a belief that American laws should return to Biblical laws. These beliefs are deeply rooted in his far-right Christian conservative roots, but not facts.

The facts were in last June, when major news outlets reported that Colorado’s contraceptive programs and sex education for teenagers caused a 40% reduction in unwanted pregnancies, mostly due to a privately-funded multimillion dollar anonymous donation to Colorado’s Family Planning Initiative. The  funding for 68 family clinics across the state allowed the clinics to offer around 30,000 intrauterine devices and implants to young women at low or no cost. From 2008 to 2012, Colorado went from having the 29th lowest teen birthrate in the nation to having the 19th lowest.  Less unplanned pregnancies equal less abortions. That’s a well known fact.

Beauprez doesn’t like the facts much, but he’s clung bitterly to his beliefs debate after debate.

Is that what Colorado’s really looking for in a Governor? Hopefully not.

[Image Credit: Denver Post]