{"id":38814,"date":"2022-08-19T19:04:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T01:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-senate-candidate-joe-odea-believes-abortions-should-be-legal-up-until-20-weeks-of-pregnancy-with-exceptions-after\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:46:29","slug":"u-s-senate-candidate-joe-odea-believes-abortions-should-be-legal-up-until-20-weeks-of-pregnancy-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-senate-candidate-joe-odea-believes-abortions-should-be-legal-up-until-20-weeks-of-pregnancy-w\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senate candidate Joe O\u2019Dea believes abortions should be legal up until 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions after"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=87e83109-4be6-5a9e-8731-882ae26ba91e&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" alt=\"Joe O\u2019Dea, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet, speaks during a primary election night watch party on June 28 in Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Joe O\u2019Dea, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet, speaks during a primary election night watch party on June 28 in Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O\u2019Dea believes abortions should be legal up until the 20th week of pregnancy, after which the procedure should be allowed only in cases of rape and incest or when a mother\u2019s life is at risk, his campaign told The Colorado Sun on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea announced his stance after he told The Sun on Thursday that he voted for an unsuccessful 2020 ballot measure that would have outlawed the procedure after 22 weeks of gestation, or 5\u00bd months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI voted for that,\u201d O\u2019Dea said in a brief interview after an event in Greenwood Village with U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea had refused until Friday to provide a specific date at which he thought abortions should be outlawed.<\/p>\n<p>He had said earlier that people should be able to legally get an abortion early on in a pregnancy and that he believed late-term abortions should be banned. But he wouldn\u2019t say what constitutes an early term or late-term abortion in his mind, only that he thought the procedure shouldn\u2019t be carried out in the last three months of a pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore viability, in that first 20 weeks, there should be a law that protects the right of women to make the decision for herself \u2013 and she shouldn\u2019t have to travel across state lines to do it,\u201d O\u2019Dea said in a written statement to The Sun on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea added: \u201cAbortion is one of these issues tearing this country apart. We have to find a balance so we can start the long process of moving the country forward and give women certainty. I was adopted. This issue is real to me in a way it never could be for someone like Michael Bennet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99% of abortions happen before the 21st week of pregnancy. Ninety-three percent of abortions happen during the first 13 weeks of a pregnancy, while 6% happen between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p>The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says \u201cwith very rare exceptions, babies born before 23 weeks of pregnancy do not survive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=56aeed71-6410-5dbb-9828-8d82ed5e3569&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" alt=\"Joe O\u2019Dea, a candidate for U.S. Senate, during a campaign appearance June 9 at a brew pub in south suburban Littleton. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Joe O\u2019Dea, a candidate for U.S. Senate, during a campaign appearance June 9 at a brew pub in south suburban Littleton. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>O\u2019Dea\u2019s campaign said O\u2019Dea isn\u2019t planning to pursue abortion legislation if he\u2019s elected to the Senate, but that the 20-week threshold is what he will use to determine whether or not he will vote \u201cyes\u201d on a bill.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea is more moderate than many fellow Republicans when it comes to abortion, and has taken heat from some in the GOP for being too soft on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Still, he came under attack this week from his opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, over his position on the procedure.<\/p>\n<p>Bennet\u2019s re-election campaign launched an ad criticizing O\u2019Dea for being opposed to Colorado\u2019s new law codifying abortion access in the state with very few exceptions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uLaLze6xBq8\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The new Bennet ad features five women discussing their shock about Roe v. Wade being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June after nearly five decades and highlighting the different abortion stances held by O\u2019Dea and Bennet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes the race for Senate even more important,\u201d one of the women says.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea\u2019s campaign fired back with a video featuring O\u2019Dea\u2019s daughter saying her father \u201cwill defend a woman\u2019s right to choose\u201d and calling Bennet \u201ca sleazy politician who will say anything to keep his job.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jfQOmPV2V98\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>O\u2019Dea\u2019s daughter, Tayler, tells viewers to Google her dad\u2019s name to find out his position on abortion.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea also opposes tax dollars being spent on abortions and believes that religiously affiliated institutions shouldn\u2019t be required to carry out the procedure. Finally, he believes parents should be notified before their child has an abortion.<\/p>\n<p>He has touted support from anti-abortion advocates and called himself \u201cpro-life,\u201d but opposed Roe v. Wade being overturned.<\/p>\n<p>Bennet, meanwhile, supports legislation prohibiting government restrictions on abortion access, according to his campaign, including the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act.<\/p>\n<p>Selina Najar, political director for Cobalt, an abortion-rights nonprofit in Colorado that has endorsed Bennet, said in a statement that O\u2019Dea \u201cdoes not share our pro-abortion rights Colorado values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time Joe O\u2019Dea has to answer in specifics, (it) turns out he\u2019s anti-abortion rights,\u201d Najar said.<\/p>\n<p>Proposition 115, the 2020 ballot measure in Colorado that sought to ban abortions at 22 weeks, failed 59% to 41%, an 18 percentage point margin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Coloradans want balance,\u201d O\u2019Dea told The Sun on Thursday of his abortion stance. \u201cMy position is my position. I\u2019ve been there the entire time. I haven\u2019t wavered at all. I disagree with Michael that we need late-term abortion. He\u2019s about late-term abortion. I don\u2019t think that should be an elective procedure. And I don\u2019t think Coloradans are there either. I really don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During his campaign event Thursday, O\u2019Dea again defended himself against Bennet\u2019s offensive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s trying to make it an issue and that\u2019s because of his failed policies,\u201d O\u2019Dea said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t want to talk about them. He doesn\u2019t want to talk about groceries. He doesn\u2019t want to talk about inflation. Crime, it\u2019s out of control. He wants to talk about abortion and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Dea called Bennet\u2019s ad \u201cdishonest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The general election is Nov. 8.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/\" id=\"link-33f5cce1aef38aad0d4cf13db7cb3455\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em id=\"emphasis-020a22302f9fb5d8c04a16c5341f4d6b\">The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bennet\u2019s challenger had refused until Friday to provide specifics on his stance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2612,233,28,826,774,1126],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abortion","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-headlines","tag-political-campaigns","tag-political-candidates","tag-politics-general"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84138,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38814\/revisions\/84138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38814"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}