Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal said he opposes mandates that require parental consent before a minor, even as young as 14, can obtain an abortion.
During a public forum held on Tuesday, DuVal responded to a question about parental consent laws, saying he opposes such mandates because "I believe that then gives the choice of reproductive freedom to the parents and not to the expectant mother."
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Pastor Tom Shrader, who moderated the event hosted by the
Redemption Church in Gilbert, Arizona, noted that the question was in reference to a case involving a 14-year-old.
"Yeah," responded DuVal, a businessman who served as deputy director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Clinton administration.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA)
quickly responded to DuVal's comments.
"It is both disturbing and troubling that Fred DuVal, as a father, would say that parents have no right to consent to what their children decide to do with their bodies," said RGA spokeswoman Gail Gitcho in statement.
"Years of polling demonstrate that Americans — Republican, Democrat and in-between — believe parents have a right to know and to consent to what their adolescent children are doing, specifically when it comes to this very serious issue. DuVal is too extreme for Arizona," said Gitcho.
Democrat State Rep. Catherine Miranda said she found it "shocking that Fred DuVal would so quickly and definitively dismiss the need for parental oversight in children’s lives," according to a statement posted on GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey's
campaign website.
"This isn’t about whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life, this is about responsible and active parenting. To even consider allowing a 14-year-old, who can’t legally vote or even drive a car, to make such a life-altering decision without parental consent is astounding," added Miranda.
In the contest to succeed term-limited Gov. Jan Brewer, DuVal is trailing Ducey by a 50 percent to 39 percent margin, according to a
CBS News/YouGov survey.
Another poll conducted by the Republican-leaning Polling Company finds Ducey leading DuVal by a 46 percent to 37 percent margin,
The Weekly Standard reports.
Rather than social issues, the issue looming over the race is how each candidate would deal with Arizona's fiscal state, according to the
Arizona Daily Star.
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