Constituents Of Colorado Republican Who Blamed Planned Parenthood For Attack Want Her Gone, Organizing Recall


The mass shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood on Friday has attracted a lot of opinions regarding who, exactly, is to blame for the attack. Adams County state Rep. JoAnn Windholz essentially condoned the mass killings when she blamed them for the attack, but her constituents are not having it and now aim to remove her from her position.

Republican state Rep. JoAnn Windholz is about to be haunted by the words she so callously used to lay blame at the feet of an organization that is constantly being attacked. In a post that has since been removed, Windholtz said that Planned Parenthood needed to end their violence before violence against them is ended. The fact that three innocent lives were lost in the shooting seems to have had no bearing on the state representative’s empathy.

“Violence is never the answer but we must start pointing out who is the real culprit. The true instigator of this violence and all violence at any pph [Planned Parenthood] facility, is pph themselves. Violence begets violence. So pph, YOU STOP THE VIOLENCE INSIDE YOUR WALLS.”

In a move that some are calling a well-deserved dose of karma, many of the residents in her state want her removed from her job. The comments sparked an immediate backlash on social media, and hundreds of people outraged by her remarks filled her Facebook page with angry comments. JoAnn Windholz’s constituents are preparing to have a recall if the GOP lawmaker refuses to resign.

In fact, the local newspaper for her community, the Aurora Sentinel, did a piece endorsing the residents who are calling for the disgraced Republican representative to step down. The paper wrote that as long as disreputable politicians continue to pander to the national tirade that anti-abortion-rights activists unleash on a daily basis against Planned Parenthood, those who take it a step further and commit murder in the name of “protecting life” will always feel justified.

The paper continues to outline that an attack carried out by an unhinged, well-armed extremist could never be the fault of an organization whose mission is to provide medical care to those in need. The fact that Windholz blames Planned Parenthood for the heinous murders and multiple injuries that occurred at their Colorado Springs clinic on Friday is being called the “worst propaganda.”

The hateful and hurtful comments are unbecoming of any elected representative. It is the view of a growing collective that if the representative fails to resign, then the Republican Party and her fellow members of the House should be prepared to oust her.

A Facebook page organizing a recall in District 30 was set up by two constituents who met through the comment section of an article in the Colorado Independent. Steven Cohn and Naomi Hatfield Bigwood’s page has already garnered over 1,600 likes, and a GoFundMe account started on Friday has managed to raise over $2,300 of the $5,000 goal through the donations of 99 persons in the last two days.

News.groopspeak has a quote from Cohen regarding his reasons for wanting Representative JoAnn Windholz out of office.

“[Windholz’s remarks are] rhetorically the equivalent of shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. I respect everyone’s beliefs until they talk about inflicting violence on fellow citizens… she seemed to condone anyone dying in the interest of stopping Planned Parenthood.”

Some also remarked that anyone who won their seat by a small a margin as Windholz should really have been more careful with their words. One of the reasons why the recall may be entirely possible is because she reportedly only came to power after winning with 106 votes out of a total of 18,858 votes cast in 2014.

In order for the recall to go through, those working towards that goal only need a total of 5,000 signatures. There is also no legal outline for why a recall is necessary, it is up to the voters. Anyone who lives in the Aurora/Adams County area of Colorado and wants to oust Windholz is being advised to join the Facebook group or to donate to the GoFundMe account.

[Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images]

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