Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal said that he is opposed to mandating parental consent for a girl as young as 14 years old to get an abortion.
The comment was made during a Tuesday forum at Redemption Church in Gilbert, Ariz.
Pastor Tom Shrader asked DuVal whether he believes that parents should need to give consent for their child to get an abortion. DuVal said he does not.
"Consent—no," DuVal said. "Because I believe that then gives the choice of reproductive freedom to the parents and not to the expectant mother."
Shrader pressed DuVal by asking about the case that the child is only 14, to which DuVal quickly stated, "Yeah."
The Republican Governors Association says that the comment puts DuVal far out of the mainstream on the issue.
"To actually say, ‘yeah,’ a 14-year-old girl should be able to get an abortion without parental consent is so far out of the mainstream, it is shocking," said RGA communications director Gail Gitcho.
"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."
An overwhelming majority of Americans have supported parental consent for teen abortions for years, even in polls that show most Americans to be pro-choice.
Polls show that DuVal trails Republican Doug Ducey in a close race, according to a Real Clear Politics average of polls.
Ducey will attend the Redemption Church for his own interview with Shrader later this month.