Pro Lifers Snubbed By Romney

There are more people now who are seriously questioning Gov. Mitt Romney's "pro life" credentials.  We know that he was adamantly pro choice when he ran against Senator Ted Kennedy back in the 90's and again when he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002.  He said he would never waiver on his support of a woman's "right to choose."  That is, he would never waiver until he decided to run on the Republican ticket for president, and then he suddenly had an epiphany about the evils of abortion.

I have posted here a questionnaire that Gov. Romney filled out in 2002, just 10 years ago, for Planned Parenthood in which he clearly states his support for abortion.  As you can see, he says yes to Roe v. Wade, and says he supports abortions being paid through Medicare. 

Massresistance.org tells us exactly what this questionnaire says:

Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts
Candidate Questionnaire 2002

1. Do you support the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade? YES

2. Do you support state funding of abortion services through Medicaid for low-income women? YES

3. Would you vote to support legislation that would require insurers that provide prescription coverage for other drugs to prescription coverage for contraceptives? I want to first evaluate the cost of this program before I commit to supporting it.

4. Reproductive health care facilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been targets of blockades, disturbances, and violence. This past legislative session a bill passed that would increase safety measures at reproductive health care facilities by providing a 6-foot bubble zone around patients and staff with an 18-foot radius of the building. These bubble zones, as well as buffer zones around the entrances and exits of such facilities would help protect individuals from harassment and intimidation while protecting the First Amendment rights of persons to express their views. Do you support legislation to establish safety zones surrounding reproductive health care facilities in the Commonwealth? YES

5. Do you support the teaching of responsible, age-appropriate, factually accurate health and sexuality education, including information about both abstinence and contraception, in public schools? YES

6. Anti-choice groups have tried to erode a woman's constitutional right to choose by trying to ban specific abortion procedures. One such attempt has been the campaign to ban so-called "partial-birth" abortions. Would you oppose a ban on safe and medically necessary methods of abortion? The double-negative construction of this question is confusing. I support the ban already codified in Massachusetts state law which prohibits abortions after 24 weeks except those performed by a physician to save the life of the mother, or when there is a substantial risk of grave impairment to her health.

7. In recent years, a campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment has been waged against reproductive health providers, patients, and their families. Planned Parenthood believes the federal government should take an aggressive role in enacting and enforcing laws to deter these illegal acts, and in prosecuting the perpetrators of such acts. Do you support the enactment and enforcement of laws that help prevent violence, intimidation and harassment directed at reproductive health providers and their patients? YES

8. Currently, according to Massachusetts General Law, if you are under the age of 18 and you have never been married, you must have the consent of one of your parents or a judge to have an abortion in Massachusetts. Do you oppose restrictions on a minor's access to abortion services? The double-negative construction of this question is confusing. I support current state law.

9. In 1998, the FDA approved the first packaging of emergency contraception, also known as "the morning after pill." Emergency contraception is a high dose combination of oral contraceptives that if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can safely prevent a pregnancy from occurring. Do you support efforts to increase access to emergency contraception? YES Signed: Mitt Romney
Date: April 9, 2002

Unfortunately, far too many people in the pro life movement have believed the hype that Mitt Romney truly is pro life despite his many, many years of supporting abortion.  As I have posted in the past, conservatives so badly want a political candidate they can trust that they will believe almost anything they are told.

But reality eventually hits us all in the face, and that happened this week with the Todd Akin story.  When Rep. Akin said that he does not support abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape, Mitt Romney's campaign immediately denounced him and said they do support abortion under such circumstances.  Romney has even called for Rep. Akin to step down from his race for senator.  Thankfully Rep. Akin is standing strong and refusing to step down.

Below is the story from onenewsnow.com about the growing disenchantment which at least one pro life group is experiencing with Gov. Romney.

 Romney snubbing pro-lifers, GOP platform

Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com)
Thursday, August 23, 2012 9:38 AM  

Personhood USA is calling on presidential candidate Mitt Romney to retract a statement he made this week about abortion.

Jennifer Mason is a spokesperson for Personhood USA, which supports proposed state amendments that define personhood at the biological beginning of life. She says her group also wants Romney to change course on Senate candidate Todd Akin (R-Missouri), who recently made a misstatement about children conceived in rape.

"We have recognized that Mitt Romney has basically turned his back on the Republican Party platform by claiming that he will uphold abortions in cases of rape and incest," Mason explains. "The Republican Party … our organization and pro-lifers nationwide believe that all life is valuable and sacred."

Romney made his statement and call for Akin's withdrawal from the race on Monday, after Akin admitted his statement for "legitimate rape" was wrong.

"While [his words] were insensitive, [Akin] has apologized for those, and he has basically been a 100-percent pro-life candidate," the Personhood USA spokesperson notes. "So we're calling on Romney to support Akin and not turn his back on him in this upcoming Senate race."

It was after Akin's verbal snafu that Romney announced he would not stand against abortion in cases of rape, which is contrary to the Republican platform. He also asked Akin to withdraw from the race and has declined to change his mind on that, even though Akin has apologized.

* * * 

 

There was another article involving this same group, Personhood USA, on times247.com, and their realization that Rep. Paul Ryan's addition as Vice President will have no effect on Romney policies.

Pro-life group hits Romney on abortion stance 

Only a few days after praising Rep. Paul Ryan's pro-life record, Personhood USA, one of the largest anti-abortion organizations in the U.S., is now criticizing the Romney-Ryan campaign for endorsing abortion in instances of rape.

"Personhood USA does not endorse political candidates, but we had hoped that Congressman Ryan would be a good influence on Governor Romney, considering Romney's liberal abortion record," said Jennifer Mason, Communications Director for Personhood USA.
 

"Reading today that babies conceived in rape should suffer the death penalty under a Romney-Ryan administration is extremely concerning, and indicates that Congressman Ryan's pro-woman and pro-baby positions would have little influence if he wins the office of Vice President of the United States."

* * *

Although Rep. Ryan's positions are laudable when it comes to abortion, he is very mainstream when it comes to other positions, always supporting the party line, such as support for the war in Afghanistan and voting for the National Defense Authorization Act.   Even though Paul Ryan worked with Todd Akin on the Personhood Bill in 2009, Ryan was nowhere seen to be defending Rep. Akin when he came under attack this week for his pro life stands.  This is a preview of what we will see in a Romney/Ryan administration. 

As the Huffington Post tells us:

The Republican vice presidential nominee told local CBS affiliate KDKA he is "proud" of his anti-abortion record when asked if abortion should be available to women in instances of rape.

"I'm proud of my pro-life record," Ryan said. "And I stand by my pro-life record in Congress."

"But [there's always a "but"] Mitt Romney is the top of the ticket and Mitt Romney will be president and he will set the policy of the Romney administration," Ryan continued.  [So no matter what positions Ryan may personally take, he will go along with whatever Mitt Romney says.  Voters need to keep this in mind]

Ryan also tried to distance himself from a bill he co-sponsored with Akin to introduce language around "forcible rape" into prior legislation, in order to limit federal funding on abortions for rape victims. [This should tell you everything you need to know.  It doesn't matter what Ryan did in the past.  He will compromise any and all of his beliefs to Mitt Romney.]  The congressman quickly cut off a question asking him to clarify what those terms meant, responding, "Rape is rape. Rape is rape, period. End of story."

"Rape is rape and there's no splitting hairs over rape," he added, when pressed further on the contradiction between his latest comments on abortion versus his record.

Rep. Ryan not only did not support Todd Akin, he actively turned against him:

Ryan acknowledged to reporters that he had phoned Akin this week to encourage him to drop his bid. He said he had “no plans” to talk to Akin again. “He’s going to run his campaign, we’re going to run ours.”  [Ryan has completely distanced himself from Akin.]

Politicians are always willing to tell you what you want to hear, but once they are in office, they will do what they are told to do and pay absolutely no attention to the voters.  We have seen it over and over again. 

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee.  We've all been conned.