By Chip Tuthill
Women's health has been at the center of many of Politifact's fact checks of the race.
Gardner outlined a populist plan to make the pill available over-the-counter without a prescription. He claimed the proposal is "cheaper and easier for you" than Udall's "plan," which is essentially the Affordable Care Act. Obama's health care law requires insurance companies to cover FDA-approved contraceptives - not just the pill - without cost-sharing. While there is evidence that moving drugs over-the-counter has economic benefits, the Gardner campaign couldn't prove that those incentives outpace the savings for consumers in Obamacare. Gardner's plan would address one type of contraceptive, meaning the people who choose other methods would see higher costs.
Udall went after Gardner's record on contraceptives early in the race, claiming in an ad that his Republican opponent "championed" a "crusade" to ban birth control in Colorado. The claim centers on Gardner's support for so-called personhood legislation that gives a fetus human rights from the moment of fertilization. Interestingly, Gardner admitted earlier this year that the bill could have outlawed certain birth controls and renounced his support. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee claimed in an ad that "Cory Gardner is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now." It's clear that personhood bills are anti-abortion measures, but there's uncertainty in the bill's language that would have to be sorted through by the court system, and it's not clear that it would ban all abortions.
The battle in Colorado for Latino votes
Colorado is the only competitive Senate race with a sizable Latino voting population. The Service Employees International Union aired a Spanish-language ad that claimed Gardner "blocked immigration reform" and "voted to deport our DREAMers." Gardner, though, has repeatedly advocated for his House colleagues to take up immigration legislation. And while he did vote for an amendment that would have ended Obama's two-year delay in deporting certain children of illegal immigrants (he also once voted against it), he said that was a move against Obama's action, and not the DREAMers. Indeed, he has called for permanent status for children brought to the U.S. illegally, including citizenship for those who join the military.
On a Spanish-speaking radio network, Gardner said, "We would create thousands of jobs in Colorado if the Keystone Pipeline were to be built." But Colorado is not on the pipeline's path, which would connect Western Canada to Nebraska and then Gulf Coast refineries, Politifact learned that Gardner was relying on an old study. A study estimated 30,000 temporary jobs would be created outside the pipelines route. It did not specify how many would be in Colorado.
Gardner's blame game goes out of bounds
On the Affordable Care Act, Gardner has repeatedly voted to repeal Obama's signature domestic achievement and early in the race was critical of Udall for supporting it. But he went too far when he said Udall "decided Obamacare. ... He passed Obamacare with his vote." Udall was not among the Democrats that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had to whip hard to vote for the health care bill. Beyond that, the statement ignores the 59 senators who also voted to end debate - and the exact same thing could be said about them.
Chip Tuthill lives in Mancos. Website used: www.politifact.com.