Pro-Life Attorney Endorses Mitt Romney, Says Abortion Position Solid

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading pro-life attorney says he's endorsing Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for president. Jim Bopp, who has served as legal counsel for numerous pro-life organizations, also answered critics of the former Massachusetts governor who say his pro-life conversion is new recent to be trusted.

"As Governor, Mitt Romney has stood side-by-side with those seeking to protect the weakest and most innocent of our society" Bopp said in a statement. "In one of our country's most liberal states, he has acted to protect the sanctity of life."

Bopp is the general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, but the pro-life group has not yet made an endorsement of its own and Bopp is backing Romney as an individual.

Based in Terre Haute, Indiana, Bopp has also served as the legal counsel for numerous pro-life groups on legislative and election issues and has also advised the Republican Party and the Christian Coalition.

In the statement LifeNews.com received, Romney said he appreciated the endorsement and added that Bopp will also be a special advisor on pro-life issues to his exploratory campaign.

"For almost three decades, Jim has been at the center of the fight to protect the sanctity of human life," Romney said.

"Jim will be a powerful spokesman for my vision of a greater tomorrow. I look forward to his counsel derived from many years of service and to working with him as we move forward," Romney added.

Bopp also told LifeNews.com that he thinks Romney's conversion to the pro-life perspective is "sincere."

Romney campaigned as a candidate backing legalized abortion in previous runs for office, including his last bid for governor.

He later said he changed his mind after confronting the issue of embryonic stem cell research and realizing how Roe v. Wade diminished the public's view of the dignity and worth of human life.

Saying that former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush were converts to as well, Bopp told LifeNews.com that the pro-life community "needs to be open to those who have a sincere conversion to the pro-life cause."

"When he was Governor and scientists were attempting to persuade him to support government funding of embryonic stem cell research, they said that there was no moral issue, because they destroy the embryos after 14 days," Bopp explained. "This hit him hard, how Roe v. Wade had cheapened life, and he publicly announced that he wanted to be considered pro-life."

He said a specific life-changing experience like Romney's is "persuasive."

Bopp also indicated that Romney's subsequent actions have affirmed his newfound pro-life stance.

"He vetoed the bill on embryonic stem cell research and some other efforts to liberalize the Massachusetts abortion law," Bopp said.

Ultimately, Bopp told LifeNews.com that a frank discussion of pro-life issues persuaded him.

"I have meet with him personally, discussed these issues with him and am satisfied that his pro-life position is sincere," he concluded.

Romney is getting endorsements and help from some very prominent evangelical activists in the practice of law, such as Jay Sekulow, Gary Marx, and David French. These men are active in efforts to reverse the abuses of an anti-Christian, liberal judiciary and the ACLU.

Below are some excerpts from an article published at American Prospect Online: ______________________________

Jay Sekulow, the head of Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice (ALCJ) and one of the most prominent evangelical figures in the country, has placed his seal of approval on Romney and signed on to advise his campaign.

Gary Marx, a former Bush campaign liaison to the evangelical community, is Romney’s Conservative Coalitions Director. Marx also heads up the Judicial Confirmation Network, which last year ran an ad ominously portraying "left-wing extremists" opposing the Alito Supreme Court nomination as supporting legal positions that were antithetical to "the real America."

And the blog Evangelicals for Mitt was co-founded by David French, a Harvard-educated lawyer who works for Sekulow's frequent ally, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which is James Dobson’s effort to undo the legal accomplishments of the American Civil Liberties Union.

...He later said he changed his mind after confronting the issue of embryonic stem cell research and realizing how Roe v. Wade diminished the public's view of the dignity and worth of human life.
..."When he was Governor and scientists were attempting to persuade him to support government funding of embryonic stem cell research, they said that there was no moral issue, because they destroy the embryos after 14 days," Bopp explained. "This hit him hard, how Roe v. Wade had cheapened life, and he publicly announced that he wanted to be considered pro-life."

I may be reading too much into this but, neither of these is a very reassuring explanation of his supposed 'conversion'. Assuming for the sake of argument that the quotes are accurate, the first quote expresses only concern regarding the public's view of the dignity and worth of human life. In the second quote, Bopp simply states that Romney was hit hard by "how Roe v. Wade had cheapened life."

These odd statements immediately raise the question of Rommey's personal knowledge and convictions concerning abortion-killing at the time he supported it. If Roe v Wade "cheapened life" how is it that Rommey missed it for over 30 years? Is he that stupid, or depraved? On the other hand, if he's not stupid, did Roe just suddenly of late begin to cheapen life? What about Rommey's own view? If's he's supposedly changed just because he's concerned about the public's view of the dignity and worth of human life, as opposed to his own view of the dignity and worth of human having been changed, then there's something fishy about it.

If he suddenly came to his senses and realized the great evil that was actually happening with abortion killing, and his own ignorance of it I can understand that. That's what happened to me many years ago. But it's going to take a better explanation than this to convince me that Rommey has had a change of heart from his prior support, tolerance or approval of it. I trust a a pragmatic or utilitarian 'repentance' about as far as I can throw a grand piano.

Cordially,

"The general consensus among FR Mormons who support Romney is that all of who think he is a phony political opportunist is that we are just anti-mormon."

I don't recall examples of this in the many Romney threads I've scanned, but if it happened it is disappointing from my fellow FReepers.

On the other hand, it has been extremely disappointing to read some of the irrational, hateful anti-Mormon bigotry that two or three FReepers have spewed on this forum (JRochelle is not among them). Perhaps FReeper members of the LDS faith have lashed out in response, and I can't say that I blame them.

For the record, I'm not a member of the LDS Church, but I lived among devout Mormons in Utah for sixteen years during my formative years. I have the greatest respect and admiration for the LDS Church. Nearly every person with whom I had any meaningful contact from age five to twenty-one, including friends, teachers, employers, Boy Scout leaders, etc., were members of the LDS Church. I count my time among them as one of the greatest blessings from God that I have received in my life. I will always be grateful for a wonderful childhood that I owe in large measure to the influence of Mormons.

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