September 25, 2015 02:51 PM UTC

PPP: Planned Parenthood Crusade Political Suicide In Colorado

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• by: Colorado Pols

A new survey from Public Policy Polling on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Colorado voters says that the Republican Party’s war against Planned Parenthood underway at the state and federal levels is a big, big mistake:

A new Public Policy Polling survey of Colorado voters find that voters oppose defunding Planned Parenthood and oppose shutting down the government over the issue. Voters would be less likely to vote to re-elect Representatives who supported shutting down the government to block Planned Parenthood funding.

Key findings from the survey include:

-55% of voters say they would view shutting down the government to block Planned Parenthood funding unfavorably. Democratic voters overwhelmingly oppose the idea- 72% of them oppose it, compared to only 23% who say support the idea. And it has opposition from critical independent voters- 55% are in opposed to 38% in favor. Overall 52% of voters oppose defunding Planned Parenthood whether or not a government shutdown is in play. [Pols emphasis]

-Voters would be less likely to vote to re-elect Representatives who voted to shut down the government to try and defund Planned Parenthood. 48% of voters say they’d be less likely to vote to re-elect those who stage a government shutdown, including 66% of Democratic voters and 52% of Independents. Just 35% of voters say they’d be more likely.

-Majorities of voters agree that attempting a government shutdown would reflect badly on the Republican Party. At least 50% of voters agree with each of the following statements: Shutting down the government to block any funding for Planned Parenthood would show that the Republicans in Congress put partisan politics ahead of what’s best for the country, that Republicans in Congress would go too far in catering to the extreme anti-abortion elements in their party, that Republicans in Congress are out of touch with the needs and concerns of women today, and that Republicans in Congress are too extreme in their policies and tactics.

Here’s the poll memo from PPP. It’s an obligatory caveat to note that PPP is generally considered a Democratic-aligned polling outfit, but they’ve received much praise over the years for accurately polling our state–including nailing last year’s U.S. Senate race as a two-point win for Cory Gardner in late September.

Given our state’s experience in the last government shutdown, which came just following devastating floods that impacted the Front Range and cost Colorado tourism towns millions after national parks and monuments closed, it’s no surprise to see local voters taking a dim view of another potential shutdown. But in addition to that, this poll shows truly resilient support for Planned Parenthood in our state–despite the release of numerous doctored undercover videos attacking the organization’s fetal tissue donation practices. Even after some of the videos depicted local Planned Parenthood employees with unflattering selective edits to their comments, a majority of Coloradans still oppose any attempt to cut off the organization’s funding.

That’s good news for all of you wondering if the onslaught of misleading videos was really moving public opinion–they’re not, at least not here–and bad news for Republicans who invested precious political capital in the hope that these videos would change the game on reproductive choice.

They didn’t. And Republicans are making the same old mistake once again.