When it came his turn to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday night, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis criticized “Project 2025,” a 900-page plus document published by the Heritage Foundation, and made several claims that are inaccurate or misleading. 

Polis brought a copy of the handbook on stage and pointed out sections that called for restrictions on contraceptives, abortions and family planning services.

He called it “Donald Trump’s roadmap to banning abortion in all 50 states.”

Here’s a breakdown of the Colorado governor’s statements about Project 2025, along with what the document actually states about abortion, contraceptives, and family planning.

Claim: Polis said Page 451 of Project 2025 states that “the only legitimate family is a married mother and father, where only the father works.”

Fact: Project 2025 does not say a married father and married is “the only legitimate family,” where “only the father works.”

The section also does not mention working or stay-at-home mothers. Instead, it focuses on the role of fathers, saying they are essential to children’s well-being by, among other things, insulating them from “physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure, and a host of behavioral and psychological problems.”

“By contrast,” the document says,” “homes with non-related ‘boyfriends’ present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be.”

Thus, the document concludes, policies should “prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health, and welfare policies.”

In addition, the document argues that policies and programs “fraught with agenda items focusing on ‘LGBTQ+ equity,’ subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage” should be repealed and replaced with programs that “support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.”

Claim: Polis claimed that Page 562 states that “Donald Trump could use an obscure law from the 1800s to single-handedly ban abortion in all 50 states.”

Fact: The document never mentions an outright or total ban, though it calls for restricting access to abortion pills via a federal law that would prohibit the distribution of contraception and abortion medication by mail. The law, called the Comstock Act, was enacted in 1873.

“Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, there is now no federal prohibition on the enforcement of this statute. The Department of Justice in the next conservative Administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills,” the document says. 

That would restrict access to abortion medication via mail, but it would not impose a complete ban, as the medication may still be dispensed in clinics and it does not ban surgical abortions.

Claim: Polis claimed that Page 450 “threatens access” to in vitro fertilization.” 

Fact: The document never mentions IVF.

In a statement following the story’s publication, the governor’s office pointed to a story from the ABC affiliate in New Hampshire. That news story actually says that the claim that Project 2025 will limit access to IVF and contraception is “mostly false.” That story cited Lou Jacobson of PolitiFact as saying the document “doesn’t specifically recommend restrictions to IVF,” though Jacobson said it has “language that supports rights for fetuses and embryos, which legal experts told us could threaten IVF and some forms of contraception.” 

Claim: Polis said that, on Page 455, “Project 2025 says that states have to report miscarriages to the Trump administration.”

Fact: The document never mentions Donald Trump. Instead, it describes the project as “the conservative movement’s unified effort to be ready for the next conservative administration to govern at 12:00 noon, January 20, 2025.”

The document talks about reporting requirements on abortion, but there’s more to it. The document says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should use “every available tool, including the cutting of funds,” to ensure states reports the following: how many abortions take place, the gestational age, the reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method. The document says the data should be separated by category: spontaneous miscarriage; treatments that “incidentally result” in death, such as chemotherapy; stillbirths; and, induced abortion.

The document adds: “Moreover, abortion should be clearly defined as only those procedures that intentionally end an unborn child’s life. Miscarriage management or standard ectopic pregnancy treatments should never be conflated with abortion.”