Ken DeGraaf

Election Information:

Party: 
Republican
District: 
Not Provided
Office: 
State House

Contact Information:

KenDeGraaf4HD22.com

Survey Responses:

S = Support
O = Oppose
NR = No Response
Life
S O NR
1.
Prohibiting Abortion: Prohibiting abortion except when necessary to save the mother's life.
X
2.
Taxpayer Funded Abortion: Allowing taxpayer dollars to fund organizations that provide abortion.
X
3.
Physician-Assisted Suicide: Allowing voluntary physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.
X
Candidate's Comments:
Our Right to Life as recognized by the Declaration of Independence is predicated upon being Created in the image of God. Rights incur the responsibility of safeguarding them for others. If an unborn human does not have a secure RtL then no one does. RtL is preserved by due process & precludes cruel & unusual means–chemical burning, severing, or dismembering. The horrific crimes of rape & incest should be punished & made accountable, however, not conveniently erased. Responsibilities incurred by fathering a child cannot be abdicated to the mother or society. As if to demonstrate the risk to eliminating the RtL for any, recent events demonstrate that the allowance for euthanasia quickly becomes active promotion and pressure, which is expected when one's value to the State is predicated upon being productive for the State. Modern medicine was built on the Hippocratic oath, which has the first principle of “do no harm” directly links the dangers of both feticide and euthanasia– “Nor shall any man's entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I counsel any man to do so. Moreover, I will give no sort of medicine to any pregnant woman, with a view to destroy the child.” We should be extremely leery of backtracking on this path.
First Amendment
S O NR
4.
Conscience Rights for Creative Professionals: Allowing creative professionals (photographer, baker, wedding vendor) to decline to participate in events or create messages that violate their moral or religious beliefs.
X
5.
Conscience Rights for Faith-Based Organizations: Exempting faith-based organizations from regulations that cause them to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.
X
6.
Free Speech on Campus: Prohibiting speech zones or speech codes that restrict where students can discuss controversial or unpopular issues on college campuses.
X
7.
Donor Privacy: Protecting confidential donor information so individuals are able to privately support charities of their choice without fear of being doxed.
X
Candidate's Comments:
A government mandate is in direct opposition to the “consent of the governed” which is essential to individual sovereignty, the protection of which is the specifically stated purpose of government by our Declaration of Independence. While it is within one's Rights to bake a cake, it is not within anyone's Rights to compel its baking. The free market has already handled this situation by providing numerous bakers who will bake the cake of one’s choosing, or allow any individual to set up a bakery and bake that type of cake. Government compulsion is not a slippery slope, it is a steep-walled pit. The first amendment establishes the entirety of the United States as a free speech zone. While a private institution may restrict events and speech within its boundaries, a public institution may not violate the Constitution. Ultimately speech is the foundation of thought, and free speech is the basis for addressing and solving problems, which by their very nature involve an offense of some sort. Civil discourse should be encouraged so that differences can be resolved in the marketplace of ideas, not through violence, or the coercion of the State. The purpose of making public the source of donations is to give an inkling of the loyalties a politician might hold. Doxing is an attack on freedom of speech and association and should be punished as such.
Family
S O NR
8.
Women's Sports: Preventing biological males who identify as female from competing in women's sports.
X
9.
Gender Identity Counseling: Allowing parents to obtain professional counseling for children struggling with gender identity issues to help them reach their desired outcome.
X
10(a).
Protected Class for Sexual Orientation: Adding “sexual orientation” as a protected class alongside race, religion, sex, age, and disability in nondiscrimination law.
X
10(b).
Protected Class for Gender Identity: Adding “gender identity” as a protected class alongside race, religion, sex, age, and disability in nondiscrimination law.
X
Candidate's Comments:
In general, people born with XY chromosomes have distinct physical advantages over those with XX chromosomes making them taller, faster & stronger. Certainly XX should be allowed to compete with XY, but government compulsion is not only unconstitutional, it effectively negates XX-sports entirely. “Sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are proudly fluid definitions and therefore cannot be any basis for legislation.
Education and Public Safety
S O NR
11.
School Choice: Allowing the use of tax credits, vouchers, and education savings accounts to cover the cost of children attending the school of their parents' choice, including private schools.
X
12.
Parental Rights for Opt-Out: Giving parents the ability to opt their children out of school materials and lessons to which the parents object.
X
13.
Critical Race Theory: Allowing schools to teach children that America's laws, policies, and society perpetuate systemic racism and that people are either oppressors or oppressed, or privileged or marginalized, based on their skin color.
X
14.
Parental Rights for Transparency in Education: Giving parents access to the curriculum and materials their children are learning in school and allowing them to decide whether or not their children should be exposed to certain ideas.
X
Candidate's Comments:
Educational expenses as tax credits would be better since vouchers would not be free of the clutches of State power, since per the Colorado Constitution Article V, section 34, “no appropriation shall be made for charitable, industrial, educational or benevolent purposes to any person, corporation or community not under the ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF THE STATE”. Thus, before asking the State for money, we should ask over what or whom we would like the State to have absolute control. Curriculum should be locally controlled by local school boards, directly and solely responsible to the parents by whom they were elected. Curriculum should be easily available for review at all times, requiring an “opt in” policy to which teachers are bound. The programs defined in (13) are ideologically driven with the stated purpose of undermining the values of our founding, plus are historically inaccurate and rooted in flawed "science" that views those “of color” as being less evolved, or inferior to those with lighter skin.
Health and Welfare
S O NR
15.
Medical Rights of Conscience: Allowing health care workers and providers the freedom to practice medicine in accordance with their personal beliefs and conscience.
X
16.
Parental Rights for Healthcare Disclosure: Requiring schools to disclose to parents if the school is providing counseling or medical services to a child who desires to undergo “gender transition.”
X
17.
Parental Rights for Mental Health Disclosure: Directing schools to inform parents of any mental, physical, or emotional health information and treatment that a child is receiving at school.
X