Colorado Republicans: "mothers should suffer" and gay people should be "put to death"

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Today's email from Progressive Majority (check out this org if you haven't already):


When you have Rush Limbaugh trying to lead the national Republican Party, you know things are starting to get a little weird.

But in the states, things are getting even stranger.

Just last week, a Colorado senator named Dave Schultheis (R-Colorado Springs) voted against a bill making HIV testing available to pregnant mothers because, as he said on the floor of the state Senate, he thinks mothers should "suffer the consequences of their actions."

After the vote, Sen. Schultheis – who bills himself as a "pro-life" legislator - told the Rocky Mountain News:

"What I'm hoping is that yes, that person may have AIDS, have it seriously as a baby, and when they grow up, but the mother will begin to feel guilt as a result of that. The family will see the negative consequences of that promiscuity and it may make a number of people over the coming years begin to realize that there are negative consequences and maybe they should adjust their behavior."

That's right. Sen. Schultheis really said he hopes babies get AIDS in order to make examples of their mothers.

Sen. Schultheis' comments came just two days after another Colorado Republican, State Sen. Scott Renfroe, on the state Senate floor during a debate, compared homosexuality to murder and suggested that gay people should be "put to death."

At Progressive Majority, we're proud to stand against the actions of Sens. Schultheis and Renfroe. In fact, we've run candidates against Sen. Renfroe before and have been hard at work building the progressive bench in both senators' districts to ensure that each one will have a strong challenger this time.

Will you help us?

I want to send Connie Simon, our Colorado political director, to each of their districts so she can scout out candidates to build the bench and aggressively push back against Sens. Schutheis and Renfroe.

However, we can't do it without your help. We need to raise $5,000 by next Friday, March 13, so that we can start an aggressive candidate recruitment operation in both districts. Progressives need to stop complaining about the actions of right-wing ideologues such as Sens. Schultheis and Renfroe and start winning. Let's challenge both men with quality candidates and elect them!

Can I count on your support?

Your gift of $250, $100, $50 or even just $10 will help us launch this critical effort today.

Sincerely,

Gloria A. Totten

President
Progressive Majority

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