Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s job is to regulate elections, campaign finance, and lobbyists.
And despite her campaign pledge to do so in a non-partisan manner, it turns out Griswold is allowing Planned Parenthood to dictate her office policy and communicate a pro-abortion message to Coloradans.
9 News reports the controversial group was consulted by Griswold before she imposed a policy banning staff travel to Alabama because of that state’s recently passed abortion law.
As a matter of fact, according to the actual documents 9 News obtained, Planned Parenthood also edited the press release announcing the ban.
We thought it obvious Griswold’s new “policy” forbidding staff travel to Alabama was purely political.
Because seriously, does anyone really believe travel to Alabama was commonplace or even necessary for our Secretary of State’s office before that state passed the new law?
Griswold admitted she consulted with Planned Parenthood about her decision, and the documents show Planned Parenthood tinkered with the message to make it more appealing to their political goals.
Here is one of their edits suggesting the boycott announcement delete the phrase “right to choose”:
“We don’t recommend using right to choose/pro-life/pro-choice language anymore, all polling indicates it is further polarizing and turns folks off.”
Whether or not one agrees with Alabama’s new law, most Coloradans would agree that our election office should not be used as a propaganda tool by any outside political group.
Such actions appear completely unethical, and should be investigated as such.
Here is Griswold’s statement admitting to the collaboration, and her misguided belief it’s her job as the state’s top election office because she’s a woman.
It appears she’s also moonlighting as the Supreme Court determining constitutionality of laws.
As a woman in statewide elected office, it’s important to me to pay attention to issues affecting women. My office periodically travels to Alabama, and I decided to no longer use state resources to do so while this unconstitutional law is in place. I consulted with Planned Parenthood about this decision, as they are one of the largest providers of, and leading experts on, women’s health care. We should not use Colorado state resources in a state that restricts women’s basic constitutional rights in this way. These attacks on our constitutional rights exemplify why our nation needs fair and equitable access to elections to ensure a more representative and reflective government.