Former Colorado Governor and Candidate for U.S. Senate Earns Endorsement from Nation’s Leading Pro-Choice Advocacy Group

For Immediate Release: February 13, 2020
Contact: [email protected]

NARAL Pro-Choice America today announced its endorsement of former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper in his campaign to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate. Hickenlooper— who also served two terms as Mayor of Denver—is seeking to unseat anti-choice Republican Senator Cory Gardner. 

“NARAL is proud to endorse former Governor John Hickenlooper, a devoted public servant and champion for reproductive freedom,” said Ilyse Hogue, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “As the former mayor of Denver and a two-term governor, he has proven time and again that he is willing to fight for Coloradans’ fundamental freedoms, including the ability to make decisions about pregnancy, free from political interference. This race could not be more critical for securing a pro-choice majority in the U.S. Senate. Not only is Hickenlooper the leader the people of Colorado deserve, he is also the best candidate to defeat Cory Gardner, who voted to put anti-choice justice Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court and continues to demonstrate just how out-of-touch he is with the majority of Coloradans who support the right to access abortion.”

“I’m honored to have NARAL’s endorsement and look forward to working with them in the Senate to improve access to reproductive health care across the United States,” said John Hickenlooper. “As Governor, I prioritized efforts to address the health of all Coloradans by expanding Medicaid, providing affordable long-acting contraception, and funding health clinics that serve underserved communities. And I will continue to fight for reproductive justice in the U.S. Senate.”

As governor of Colorado, Hickenlooper played a critical role in advancing reforms aimed toward expanding access to reproductive healthcare in the state, particularly for rural, low-income, and young women. This included signing legislation that would allow women to get 12-month birth control prescriptions, increasing funding for clinics that serve low-income and uninsured women, and overseeing a comprehensive plan to expand access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)—which led to a 54% drop in unintended pregnancies among young women. 

Senator Gardner earned a 0% score from NARAL in the 2018 Congressional Record on Choice. As senator, he has voted to ban abortion and to defund Planned Parenthood by disqualifying the organization from participating in federal healthcare programs. Gardner has voted to confirm dozens of anti-choice judges, including confirming anti-choice extremist Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court — which cemented a majority on the highest court in the land that is hostile to Roe v. Wade and emboldened anti-choice lawmakers to double down on their agenda of overturning Roe. Gardner also supports allowing states to place extreme restrictions on reproductive freedom.  

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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom.In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”