September 15, 2014 11:12 AM UTC

Shaun Boyd's Reality Check Dismantles Cory Gardner, Again

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• by: Colorado Pols

The last few weeks have been very hard on GOP U.S. Senate candidate Cory Gardner, with numerous objective news sources debunking claims Gardner has relied on to escape his unsightly past record on reproductive choice and contraception. The latest this past Friday was from CBS4's Shaun Boyd:

Key excerpts:

GARDNER: I believe the pill ought to be available over the counter around the clock without a prescription. 

BOYD: That's true. Gardner penned an op-ed calling for birth control bills to be available over the counter without a prescription, and for a provision of Obamacare that prevents insurers from covering the drugs without a prescription to be repealed. Even though he has opposed requiring insurers to require birth control in the past…

GARDNER: Mark Udall's plan is different. He wants to keep government bureaucrats between you and your health care plan.  That means more politics, and more profits for drug companies. My plan means more rights, more freedom, and more control for you.

BOYD: That's spin. Arguably both plans involved government bureaucrats. Udall supports Obamacare, that requires insurance to cover all birth control. And okay. That has meant more politics. But if Obamacare is repealed, something Gardner has voted to do repeatedly, insurers wouldn't have to pay for any birth control whether it is over the counter or not. Hard to see whether that is more rights, more freedom and more control for women. 

Finally, you should know that Gardner is sponsor of a federal Personhood measure that could outlaw many types of birth control including the pill. Bottom line, this isn't about birth control, it's about the female vote. Cory Gardner wants to be seen as pro-women, but his overall record on birth control is not the best example of that. [Pols emphasis]

We don't always agree with Boyd's conclusions in her Reality Check series, but we're big fans of her matter-of-fact delivery in this one. Overall, Boyd's frank style of reporting is very persuasive with the kinds of working class family types who watch local broadcast evening news. To have won over Shaun Boyd on this key issue in the U.S. Senate race is a big coup for Democrats, and demonstrative of the growing consensus among just about all the media voters will come across that Gardner is not being honest about his position on abortion and contraception.

If you're tired of hearing it, keep in mind: many voters still haven't. And that's why more "reality checks" are needed.