Oh no, we are going back to the outdated quote duel? And then maybe the dueling youtube clips next? I think we've gone past that already, don't you? But one good outdated quote, deserves another....
--- "Government should stay out of it... The ultimate decision must be made by the women... Government should treat its citizens as adults capable of making moral decisions on their own." -- Fred Thompson, July 1994
---During an interview with the Conservative Spectator, a Tennessee newspaper, he claimed to be pro-life but also said that, “The ultimate decision on abortion should be left with the woman and not the government.” http://www.macsmind.com/wordpress/2007/06/17/the-choppin-down-of-the-tree-called-fred-thompson-begins/
---U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson says he seldom hears about abortion in campaign travels throughout Tennessee and hopes the issue is downplayed at the Republican National Convention... He said the party must avoid distracting issues and focus on electing Bob Dole as president. 'We need to concentrate on what brings us together and not what divides us,' Thompson said in an interview with The Tennessean published Tuesday.
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/192754.aspx
Romney never lobbied or lawyered for a pro-abortion group.
Romney has a letter of support from pro-life groups thanking him for all the hard work he's done -- actual actions taken just in the last few years -- in support of the pro-life cause. The other candidates should post their letters.P>---------------
An Open Letter from Pro-Life Leaders Regarding Governor Mitt Romney
January 11, 2007
Dear conservative friends:
We hail from a broad spectrum of organizations dedicated to fighting for the pro-family agenda in Massachusetts. As you know, Mitt Romney became the governor of our state in 2003.
Since that time, we have worked closely with him and his excellent staff on that agenda. Some press accounts and bloggers have described Governor Romney in terms we neither have observed nor can we accept. To the contrary, we, who have been fighting here for the values you also hold, are indebted to him and his responsive staff in demonstrating solid social conservative credentials by undertaking the following actions here in Massachusetts:
• Staunchly defended traditional marriage. Governor Romney immediately and strongly condemned the 2003 court decision that legalized “same-sex marriage” in our state. More importantly, he followed up on that denunciation with action – action that saved our nation from a constitutional crisis over the definition of marriage. He and his staff identified and enforced a little-known 1913 law that allowed them to order local clerks not to issue marriage licenses to out-of-state couples. Absent this action, homosexual couples would surely have flooded into Massachusetts from other states to get “married” and then demanded that their home states recognize the “marriages,” putting the nation only one court decision away from nationalizing “same-sex marriage.”
• Worked hard to overturn “same-sex marriage” in the Commonwealth with considerable progress to date. In 2004 he lobbied hard, before a very hostile legislature, for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage – an amendment later changed by the legislature to include civil unions, which the Governor and many marriage amendment supporters opposed. Working with the Governor, we were successful in defeating this amendment.
• Provided active support for a successful citizen petition drive in 2005 to advance a clean constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
• Rallied thousands of citizens to focus public and media attention on the failure of legislators, through repeated delays, to perform their constitutional obligation and vote on the marriage amendment.
• Filed suit before the Supreme Judicial Court. The Governor’s suit asked the court to clarify the legislators’ duty to vote and failing that, to place the amendment on the 2008 ballot. That lawsuit, perhaps more than any other single action, was by all accounts instrumental in bringing pressure on the legislators to vote. The vote ultimately was taken on January 2, 2007 and won legislative support – clearing a major hurdle in the three year effort to restore traditional marriage in the Commonwealth.
• Fought for abstinence education. In 2006, under Governor Romney’s leadership, Massachusetts’ public schools began to offer a classroom program on abstinence from the faith-based Boston group Healthy Futures to middle school students. Promoting the program, Governor Romney stated, “I’ve never had anyone complain to me that their kids are not learning enough about sex in school. However, a number of people have asked me why it is that we do not speak more about abstinence as a safe and preventative health practice.”
• Affirmed the culture of life. Governor Romney has vetoed bills to provide access to the socalled “morning-after pill,” which is an abortifacient, as well as a bill providing for expansive, embryo-destroying stem cell research. He vetoed the latter bill in 2005 because he could not “in good conscience allow this bill to become law.”
• Stood for religious freedom. Last year, Governor Romney was stalwart in defense of the right of Catholic Charities of Boston to refuse to allow homosexual couples to adopt children in its care. Catholic Charities was loudly accused of “discrimination,” but Governor Romney correctly pointed out that it is unjust to force a religious agency to violate the tenets of its faith in order to placate a special-interest group.
• Filed “An Act Protecting Religious Freedom” in the Massachusetts legislature to save Catholic Charities of Boston and other religious groups from being forced to violate their moral principles or stop doing important charitable work.
All of this may explain why John J. Miller, the national political reporter of National Review, has written that “a good case can be made that Romney has fought harder for social conservatives than any other governor in America, and it is difficult to imagine his doing so in a more daunting political environment.”
We are aware of the 1994 comments of Senate candidate Romney, which have been the subject of much recent discussion. While they are, taken by themselves, obviously worrisome to social conservatives including ourselves, they do not dovetail with the actions of Governor Romney from 2003 until now – and those actions have positively and demonstrably impacted the social climate of Massachusetts.
Since well before 2003, we have been laboring in the trenches of Massachusetts, fighting for the family values you and we share. It is difficult work indeed – not for the faint of heart. In this challenging environment, Governor Romney has proven that he shares our values, as well as our determination to protect them.
For four years, Governor Romney has been right there beside us, providing leadership on key issues – whether it was politically expedient to do so or not. He has stood on principle, and we have benefited greatly from having him with us. It is clear that Governor Romney has learned much since 1994 – to the benefit of our movement and our Commonwealth. In fact, the entire nation has benefited from his socially conservative, pro-family actions in office. As we explained earlier, his leadership on the marriage issue helped prevent our nation from being plunged into even worse legal turmoil following the court decision that forced “gay marriage” upon our Commonwealth.
For that our country ought to be thankful. We certainly are.
Sincerely,
Rita Covelle President, Morality in Media Massachusetts
Richard Guerriero Immediate Past State Deputy, Massachusetts State Council, Knights of Columbus
Mary Ann Glendon Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Kristian Mineau President, Massachusetts Family Institute
Dr. Roberto Miranda President, COPAHNI Fellowship of Hispanic Pastors of New England
James Morgan President, Institute for Family Development
Joseph Reilly President, Massachusetts Citizens for Life
Thomas A. Shields Chairman, Coalition for Family and Marriage
Outdated? Far from it. Fact. Fred has been a life long conservative. As far as I can tell, Fred has always been pro-life, while calling the abortion issue a states rights issue. Not an issue for the federal govt. Until we cosnervatives can get a Constitutional amendment passed into law outlawing most abortions, ending Roe v Wade as the policy of the US govt is the best alternative we pro-lifers can hope for.
Romney is a recent convert to a pro-life position. It appears to many of us, that Romney's change of heart is nothing but more political expediency to advance his personal agenda in politics. It leaves his integrity open to many questions. You can continue giving Romney a complete pass on his 30+ years of support for Roe v Wade and abortion on demand. This conservative will not.
More of Fred`s 100% pro-life Senate voting record.
ABORTIONS IN OVERSEAS MILITARY HOSPITALS. S2057 (roll call vote 176). Murray (D-WA) amendment to repeal current law prohibiting overseas U.S. military hospitals and medical facilities from performing privately funded abortions for U.S. service members and their dependents. Rejected 44-49, June 25, 1998. Fred opposed the amendment.
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION. HR1122 (roll call vote 277). Passage, over President Clinton's October 10, 1997, veto, of the bill to ban a certain late-term abortion procedure, in which the physician partially delivers the fetus before completing the abortion. Rejected 64-36, September 18, 1998. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting (67 in this case) of both houses is required to override a veto. Fred supported the legislation.
TRANSPORTING MINORS FOR ABORTION. S1645 (roll call vote 282). Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the substitute amendment to the bill that would make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to transport a minor across state lines with the intent to obtain an abortion. Motion rejected 54-45, September 22, 1998. Three-fifths of the total Senate (60) is required to invoke cloture. Fred supported the cloture motion.
Prohibit Drugs to Induce Abortion, HR 1906 (Roll Call Vote No. 173). June 8, 1999 - Coburn (R-OK) amendment to prohibit the use of any funding for the Food and Drug Administration to test, develop, or approve any drugs for the chemical inducement of abortion. Amendment adopted 217-214, 8 June 1999. Fred supported the amendment.
It's got nothing to do with outdated quotes. It's all about Slick Willard's fresh lie.