Colorado congressional candidate and sitting State Rep. Richard Holtorf ® received a tough grilling this week at the hands of local 9News anchor Kyle Clark over his apparent hypocrisy when it comes to abortion rights.
Holtorf made headlines back in January when he defended paying for his girlfriend’s abortion, despite being an adamant pro-life lawmaker and abortion critic. “Anti-abortion GOP lawmaker praises the impact of the abortion he paid for,” read the headline of a local report by Clark from the beginning of the year.
To his credit, Holtorf sat down with Clark to discuss the issue.
“Why do you seek to deny [the right to an abortion] to other women?” Clark pressed.
“Let me, let me — I don’t, I don’t,” Holtorf replied.
“You have voted to restrict abortion access,” Clark shot back.
“And I have. And I’m a pro-life person. I think you should try to choose life every time. But there are exceptions. And there are times when you need abortion. Abortion is a medical procedure,” declared Holtorf.
There are exceptions, like when it’s inconvenient for the rich and powerful. Other people should (be compelled by law to) choose life every time.
So, pro choice then. Come on “pro-life” people if you make exceptions you are pro choice. Abortion should be legal and accessible to women who need it, birth control too.
Yo, but how are we supposed to subjugate women?
I cannot upvote you on principle but I will commend your satire.
You’re projecting logical thinking. Stop.
The Republicans need wedge issues for culture wars. It’s a numbers game and that’s all they care about.
Projecting logic and critical thinking on a party that’s moving towards fascism is a fool’s errand.
The Only Moral Abortion Is My Abortion.
reuse as needed.
Edit = Here’s a link to the author’s blog post: https://joycearthur.com/abortion/the-only-moral-abortion-is-my-abortion/
Thanks to Cosmic Turtle.
The Atlantic article is paywalled.
Here’s a link to the author’s blog post: https://joycearthur.com/abortion/the-only-moral-abortion-is-my-abortion/
Thanks, I’ll edit that into my comment
paywalled
Here’s a link to the author’s blog post: https://joycearthur.com/abortion/the-only-moral-abortion-is-my-abortion/
I apologize
It’s a great headline though
“And I have. And I’m a pro-life person. I think you should try to choose life every time. But there are exceptions. And there are times when you need abortion. Abortion is a medical procedure,” declared Holtorf.
“Is one of the exceptions when Richard Holtorf is the father?” Clark demanded.
I’m a pro-life person … there are times when you need an abortion.
That’s pro-choice my man.
It’s surprising how often “pro-life” people turn out to be pro-choice when pressed a little on the realities of people’s lives. They seem to maintain the pro-life stance only through a refusal to think about difficult situations - which makes no sense since the whole debate is precisely about difficult situations.
And they commonly just don’t seem to understand what pro-choice means. They think it means being someone who just loves abortions and thinks they’re great and unproblematic and everyone should get one. They don’t realize there are no such people, because they’ve never actually asked and listened, or given it any thought.
Cognitive dissonance is fucking wild.
*edit I definitely am not using that term correctly. Double think? Someone help me out here.
This quote pissed me off. I’m fucking pro choice AF and this to me just says this interview wasn’t anything but to make him feel and look stupid and strengthen identity politics. It is gross. A real thoughtful response would have GRASPED onto that admittance that it is a medical procedure and point out how the law has hindered necessary medical treatment for fear of courts deeming it “illegal” because now politicians with power and monetary motivations get to decide what is medically necessary and not anyone with education in medicine or science even.
Grab those “liberal” threads they tried to deny is reality and pull it to the forefront don’t just butt heads with stupid fucking onelines that could make a headline.
I want to agree with you, but… We have decades of that just not working.
Anyone able to be persuaded by what you’re describing would have been persuaded by the obvious hypocrisy of the answer itself.
Mockery is a rhetorical device that can be persuasive, and we don’t always need to be nice to people when their open hypocrisy is destroying lives.
he got his girlfriend an abortion while limiting the rights of his constituents.
done deal. nuff said. if you don’t get the obvious hypocrisy that’s on you mate.
Sound bytes are more valuable to the journalists employer than all that full story nonsense. Why don’t they realize true revolution and change would generate far more income and viewership than this bullshit ?
Holtorf: That’s just a story. What’s more important is the policy.
The policy is the whole fucking problem! His hypocrisy is an issue because, even with a complete lack of any ability to empathize with different people in different circumstances (which I assume as a default from right-wingers), he ought to understand this situation because it did happen to him. Yet he just doesn’t care. Christ, what an asshole.
I mean, I’d rather he have no kids, so I agree that him being the father should be an exception.
I noticed this is not a Sinclair owned Network. I imagine that’s the only reason they were able to ask this question.
For those unfamiliar with Sinclair, here is just one of their shitty tactics:
“This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.”
And then they did it AGAIN last week.
Sinclair leaps in to attack Biden’s mental fitness while Trump has spluttering incoherent speeches.
There are no Sinclair networks in Colorado.
Just want to say that Kyle Clark has been running a clinic on how to question conservatives.
Could you like me to more about this? I did a quick search and didn’t find relevant pages. Thought I’d ask if you have a direct link handy.
He was a moderator of a Republican debate the other day and ran it fantastically. Jimmy Kimmel picked it up because it was soooo good. Just look up Jimmy Kimmel Kyle Clark.
Side note, as a Coloradoan, I just want to say that Kyle Clark is a state treasure.
He isn’t literally running a clinic (umm that I’m aware of). It’s a figure of speech.
Kyle Clark is the anchor for 9News here in the Denver metro area / Colorado
Oh, dang. Wishful thinking on my part, I suppose.
More journalists like this please
Kyle Clark for debate moderator 2024. No bullshit allowed.
Damn, Kyle Clark, again? Why can’t every journalist be like this? I mean, seriously.
Republicans will whine about the unfair treatment by the interviewer, deflecting from the utter hypocrisy of this vapid idiot.
It’s not even a “gotcha” question. He seems to be clear that his girlfriend’s abortion allowed her to live her best life, and he supported it. So it stands to reason that if he’s voting to restrict abortion, that there must be some line between his girlfriend’s situation, which he supported, and what he votes to restrict. And asking that question is key to understanding his position (if giving him a whole HEAP of benefit-of-the-doubt he doesn’t deserve).
If he wanted to maintain any kind of consistency, he could have simply said “it’s legal right now, so it was her decision and she was able to get one, and if there is a financial burden in that I should take equal responsibility. I don’t think it should be an option, but I can’t make her choose not to when it isn’t illegal.” And that would be that. Even the “best life” thing could be squared away: “It’s never good when a life that should come into this world never sees daylight, but there are, of course, some options that are available that wouldn’t exist with a child, and she has those options. Many women have children unexpectedly and have rich, fulfilling lives, even if they weren’t what they planned. What I meant by her best life is to say she could continue on the path she found to be best, before she found out she was pregnant.”
I’m about as pro-choice as it gets and even I can come up with some shitty justifications for his bullshit hypocrisy. So it’s not just that this guy is a hypocrite, he’s also an idiot. If you’re incapable of explaining your actions and voting, you have no business running for any political position.
Repubs have difficulty with consistency and integrity because they value truth less than they value white supremacist hierarchy. It’s a tricky question for them because they all implicitly understand that the laws are only requirements for poors at the bottom of the hierarchy. They also know they aren’t supposed to say that out loud.
“Having to answer for our hypocrisy is unfair!”
Republicans
deleted by creator
this guy comoderated the republican primary in Colorado as well and he was incredible. didn’t take bullshit and put everyone (including and especially boebert) in their place. what a hero.
Now this is what “I just wanna grill” should refer to.
Catholic eh? Someone should contact his local church and remind the pastor of canon law:
“Canon 1397 §2 is a paragraph of the canon 1397 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church; the paragraph states: “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication”.”
He was excommunicated the second his payment went through.
Not hard to get back in communion though. Francis made it so any literally priest can absolve you, not just Bishops.
These people drive me crazy. I never had an abortion because I think it’s creepy as fuck but I don’t think my experience should define everyone else’s, these men are evil. If a lady has to have an abortion, she has to. Nobody wants to, and they want to heap shame on top of that, but literally will NEVER have to make that choice because they are men. Fuck off.
That’s the thing, isn’t it? Literally nobody wants one. But Repubs keep telling lies like women choose abortion as their primary means of birth control.
Fr I’ve seen so many people claim women will get em willy nilly. Like no, that shit is a last resort.
Because it’s never been about protecting the unborn for the actual politicians, it’s always been about controlling women.
Rules for thee, not for me.
In groups to protect, outgroups to bind. That seems to be all conservatism is.
That’s unfair. Conservatism is also about personal selfishness.
