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Mitt Romney: No One Would Care If I Went From Pro-Life to Pro-Abortion
Life News ^ | 5/8/07 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on 05/09/2007 4:47:37 PM PDT by wagglebee

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he's getting tired of the questions about his shift a few years ago from supporting to opposing abortion. In a television interview last night, he said he wouldn't be barraged with so many questions if he had switched from pro-life to pro-abortion.

The comments came during a Monday night interview on the Fox News Channel program "Hannity and Colmes."

Romney has frequently explained how he became pro-life a few years ago after having to deal with the issue of embryonic stem cell research as governor -- after campaigning as a pro-abortion candidate on previous occasions.

"What I find interesting is, had I been pro-life and then changed to pro-choice, no one would ask the question," the former Massachusetts governor said.

He added: "But if you go the other direction, as I have and as Ronald Reagan did and (former Illinois Rep.) Henry Hyde and (former president) George Herbert Walker Bush, it's like the media can't get enough of it: 'Oh, well, why did you change?' "

Romney talked about his abortion views during the Republican presidential debate last week.

Asked whether "the day that Roe v. Wade is repealed" would "be a good day for Americans" Romney replied, "Absolutely."

The former governor was also asked about his position change -- something that presumably led to the Fox News comments.

"I've always been personally pro-life, but for me there was a great question about whether or not government should intrude in that decision. And when I ran for office, I said I’d protect the law as it was, which is effectively a pro-choice position," Romney explained.

"About two years ago when we were studying cloning in our state, I said, look, we have gone too far; it’s a brave new world mentality that Roe v. Wade has given us; and I change my mind," he added.

"And I said I was wrong and changed my mind and said I'm pro-life. And I'm proud of that and I won't apologize to anybody for becoming pro-life," he concluded.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abortion; elections; mittromney; ourjohnkerry; prolife
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To: Tribune7; wagglebee
How do you figure that?

There is no figuring involved. There is a whole contingent of Freepers who disparage anything Romney says, regardless of what he says. If he says something conservative, he is a hypocrite. If he says something that can be construed as not conservative, then it is "Aha!, I told you he was a liberal".

41 posted on 05/09/2007 5:49:58 PM PDT by Plutarch
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To: wagglebee
I am tired of him referencing Reagan, GHW Bush, and Hyde.

He can't hold a candle to them, and it's like a page from a Dem playbook to point fingers and say 'they did it too'...

Very disingenuous....

42 posted on 05/09/2007 5:50:54 PM PDT by Guenevere (Duncan Hunter for President, 2008!!)
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Comment #43 Removed by Moderator

To: Timmy
Just curious. Do you believe former pro-lifers Ted Kennedy, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, or Jesse Jackson would be pro-life if they became president?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ah , the old converse logic trick. Its case by case, and I am afraid tarring everyone with the same logic brush has little appeal to me or to a search for what is true, beyond all of the political posturing. The real world works not as you suggest.

In Romney's case, his present protestations and vacillations and family value history point to a personal belief in abortion as a matter of choice.

44 posted on 05/09/2007 5:54:50 PM PDT by Candor7
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To: Capt. Cox

You opined, “I’m still waiting for anybody to point out any pro abortion legislation that he signed.” Romney-care pays for abortions in Mass. Did Slick Mitt sign that legislation?


45 posted on 05/09/2007 5:56:09 PM PDT by MHGinTN (You've had life support. Promote life support for others.)
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To: EternalVigilance

As usual you come bearing lies...

The signing ceremony is not for the commonwealth care. You post links to two different things. Commonwealth care has been in place before he came into office and refers to the pro choice laws already on the books that I mentioned before.

The signing ceremony was for his health care reform which effectively privatizes the system:

read up:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5330854

http://www.myheritage.org/Features/Archive/2006/012706_Romney.asp

is alan keyes back from korea yet? I think you’re badly in need of new instructions..


46 posted on 05/09/2007 5:57:07 PM PDT by Capt. Cox (evangelicalsformitt.org)
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To: Candor7
Romney just opened his big mouth and inserted his foot. Now he will never achieve the nomination. What a megalomaniac.

Plus, he showed all he is doing is pandering to the right, instead of undergoing a genuine conversion.

Oh, and Mitt, BTW - if you had gone from pro-life to pro-abort, you would be scorned by the right far more than you are now. Just ask Rudy, last seen crawling away from his Laura Ingraham interview.

47 posted on 05/09/2007 5:59:50 PM PDT by dirtboy (JimRob's 12th Commandment: Thou shall not trash actual pubbies on FR to pimp false pubbies)
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To: Capt. Cox
The signing ceremony was for his health care reform which effectively privatizes the system:

Thanks for that tidbit, Mr. Goebbels.

I've never seen an American campaign lie as much as the Romney campaign, or so brazenly.

48 posted on 05/09/2007 6:00:32 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A [Free] Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: MHGinTN

refer to post #46.

Public funded abortions were law before he came into office and even if he wanted to end it the democrat controlled legislature had the numbers to override any vetoes.


49 posted on 05/09/2007 6:00:40 PM PDT by Capt. Cox (evangelicalsformitt.org)
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To: Plutarch

Until Fred jumps in, Mitt has my vote.


50 posted on 05/09/2007 6:00:50 PM PDT by Tribune7 (A bleeding heart does nothing but ruin the carpet)
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To: Capt. Cox
is alan keyes back from korea yet? I think you’re badly in need of new instructions..

You think Alan Keyes is worried about dealing with lying dweebs like you? ROFL...

51 posted on 05/09/2007 6:02:06 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A [Free] Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Capt. Cox

Yeah, right. It’s always someone else’s fault. The Romney campaign’s final default position when the light gets to be too much to bear...


52 posted on 05/09/2007 6:03:20 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A [Free] Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: WOSG
Because the people who idolize Reagan somehow forget the real past of Saint Gipper, the one where he signed abortion liberalization in Cali., and so when Romney makes a (correct) point about Reagan’s evolution, they have a hissy fit and call Romney a liar.

First of all, the abortion bill in question was a liberalization but was hardly liberal. It legalized abortion in the exception cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother. Doctors abused the final exception, and Reagan later regretted signing the bill.

But beyond that, Reagan's full conversion to a pro-life position did not coincide with running for the presidency. Reagan also never praised Roe as Romney did in 1994. And as Romney's comments here indicate, he is pandering to the right with his supposed pro-life shift.

53 posted on 05/09/2007 6:05:06 PM PDT by dirtboy (JimRob's 12th Commandment: Thou shall not trash actual pubbies on FR to pimp false pubbies)
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To: Capt. Cox

Did Mitt sign the Romney-care legislation? That answers what you asked.


54 posted on 05/09/2007 6:05:21 PM PDT by MHGinTN (You've had life support. Promote life support for others.)
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To: Candor7

I think you didn’t read the article, and thus missed the point.


55 posted on 05/09/2007 6:13:40 PM PDT by Maceman (Scratch a progressive, find a misanthrope.)
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To: MHGinTN

You dont get it. There is no Romney-care legislation. I think this expression was created by EternalVigilace or some of his bolsheviks friends at Mass Resistance.

Public funded abortions in Massachusetts have been in place long before Romney came into office. He didn’t sign it into law.


56 posted on 05/09/2007 6:14:42 PM PDT by Capt. Cox (evangelicalsformitt.org)
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To: wagglebee
This just proves to me that Romney DOES NOT understand conservative principles and it gives me real doubts about whether he is really opposed to abortion.

Both Mitt and Abortiani have stuffed both feet in their mouths on this issue multiple times. They both have political tin ears, it seems.

If nothing else all this RINO twisting and turning proves that abortion, and specifically LIFE, is a crucial issue nationwide and the GOP abandons it at their deadly peril.
57 posted on 05/09/2007 6:18:52 PM PDT by Antoninus (P!ss off an environmentalist wacko . . . have more kids.)
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To: Capt. Cox

Aren’t you the newbie who claimed MassResistance was Soros-funded a couple of days ago, and then got real quiet when you were asked to provide proof?

You’re one of the worst newbie trolls I’ve seen around this place for a long time. And that’s saying something.


58 posted on 05/09/2007 6:19:55 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A [Free] Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Capt. Cox
Let's examine the MassResistance documents on Romney and see how that information stands up on its own, shall we?

Here's the page in total:

The Mitt Romney Deception

The opening statement:

Despite recent statements across the country by Governor Mitt Romney claiming he's pro-life, pro-family and a committed conservative, a broad investigation of his actual statements, actions, and public positions over the years indicates that he has spent his entire career speaking and governing as a liberal - and that his new found conversion to conservatism very likely coincides with his candidacy for the presidency.

The information in this report is gleaned from public records, press accounts, internet web sites and research (as well as personal observation) by my organization, MassResistance, a grass-roots pro-family group that has observed Governor Romney for over a decade. We have analyzed his legislation, met with his staff, lobbied for and against his agenda (depending what it is) and otherwise compiled considerable research on his administration.

We believe this report is necessary due to a calculated effort by the Romney campaign to revise his history and portray the Governor as far more conservative than the record indicates. Already, the Governor's staff is making appointments with the nation's leading conservative leaders to convince them that he should be the standard bearer for the conservative movement in the upcoming presidential elections.

We have also been alarmed by misleading and glowing accounts about Romney which have appeared in the conservative media over the past year. The fact that these articles were based upon sloppy research and material supplied by the Romney camp gave us great incentive to set the record straight. Few national political writers have bothered to speak with any MassResistance member, or for that matter anyone critical of Romney's record.

One of the few conservative publications to expose Romney's liberalism is the conservative weekly Human Events which (in a 2005 article) listed Romney at number eight on its list of "Top Ten Republicans in Name Only (RINOs)." Indeed, this report will demonstrate that Romney was probably the most pro-abortion and pro-gay rights Republican official in the nation for the last decade. The idea that he has suddenly become a conservative after a decade of liberal actions and statements would be merely amusing were it not for the fact that he's running for the presidency and that many conservatives are falling for this act.

Top 10 RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) Human Events 12/27/05 - (Mitt Romney is ranked #8)

On the other hand, it's particularly interesting to note that Bay Windows, Boston's major homosexual newspaper, has reviewed Romney favorably. That same newspaper regularly prints extremely vicious and even obscene attacks on all conservative politicians, the "Christian Right" and even parents who challenge the liberal political agenda.

The November elections were clearly a turning point for the conservative movement. While President Bush has done some good things for the conservative movement, in many areas his administration has been a great disappointment. Movement activists across the country have become disillusioned with the Republican Party as a result of Bush's massive spending spree, his failure to veto wasteful programs, his inattention toward illegal immigration, and his token attention to social issues. As a result, we paid a price at the polls.

In two years, the presidential elections will be upon us and the GOP will have an opportunity to redeem itself. However, if we elect another President who demoralizes our base even further, it could spell the end of the conservative movement as we know it. Many conservative organizations are already reporting that segments or our base are dropping out of politics altogether or joining the Libertarian and other small parties. Another four or eight years of "big tent" Republicanism or "compassionate conservatism" will kill our base and CPAC meetings will be held in a phone booth.

Thus, it is imperative that the movement carefully scrutinize the record of all candidates seeking the presidency and if none of the existing candidates meet our standards, then it would be prudent for the conservative movement to draft someone we can all be supportive of. Let's review Governor Romney's positions on the hot-button issues and his actions as Governor of Massachusetts.

(Note: News source web links are listed at the end of this document by date. All bolding has been added by the author of this report.)

59 posted on 05/09/2007 6:36:11 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A [Free] Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: EternalVigilance

Gee, and I was getting ready to come to your defense!


60 posted on 05/09/2007 6:37:03 PM PDT by MHGinTN (You've had life support. Promote life support for others.)
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