Chaput takes on Ritter

In the latest issue of the Denver Catholic Register, Archbishop Chaput fires a shot across the bow of Gov. Ritter, challenging the newly installed leader on his stance on abortion and Planned Parenthood.

The column acknowledges that Gov. Ritter. . .

. . . has been engaged and active in his Catholic faith for many years, and remains so.

Nonetheless, it’s very hard to reconcile anyone who is “pro-life” with any support for Planned Parenthood and its destructive record.

Gov. Ritter said he would fund Planned Parenthood so long as it can prove that it is not using state money to fund abortions. During Gov. Owens' tenure, PP failed to prove that, causing him to pull funding. I would be shocked to learn that PP has changed in that regard, so will Gov. Ritter also have the guts to yank funding?

Wrote Archbishop Chaput:

In the opening weeks of his first term, Governor Ritter has a right to be taken at his word. He also has a responsibility to show Coloradans what he means. What his words do actually mean will become clear in the demands he places on Planned Parenthood for proof that state funds truly are segregated from abortion services and don’t materially support the killing of unborn children. As Vincent Carroll implied in his Jan. 12 Rocky Mountain News column, that will be a difficult task, if not impossible.