Posted on 03/12/2010 11:23:26 AM PST by Colofornian
Romney was never pro-life, and he has pointed out that his pro-choice beliefs were in keeping with his religion and that many other Mormon leaders are pro-choice.
Part of Romney's "mis-parsings" are timing issues (when & where), & the rest is you're just plain wrong on this assessment. Again, look at three examples & tell me what you think:
The year is 2001 (July).
Not yet campaigning for Mass guv, where he presented a pro-abortion face, but no need to shift off of his 1994 pro-abortion face he presented to Mass voters. So, you would think Mitt was trying to present a solid "PR" political face of being pro-abortion, right? Wrong!
His letter-to-the editor to a Salt Lake newspaper, dated July 12, 2001, said he “didn’t wish to be labeled pro-choice.”
So, already here he was denying being "pro-choice" at a time when he took up the pro-abortion mantle in running for gov in 2002! (During that campaign, he not only responded to two pro-abortion voters guides, but initiated doing a third one on his own!)
There really wasn't any political reason to make such an appeal to Utah citizens (unless at that time he was still mulling over some run in Utah). But even at that, he was denying being pro-abortion all in a major pro-abortion political run that lasted from the early 90s through 2002!!!
Next stop: The Year is 2007:
"I am firmly pro-life…I was always for life." (Jim Davenport, "Romney Affirms Opposition to Abortion," The Associated Press, 2/9/2007)
Curiosity, I'm curious as to how somebody could be both "pro-choice" and "always" having been "for life." (Ya wanna explain that one?)
Next stop: August, 2007:
Chris Wallace of Fox News is interviewing Romney. Romney says: "I never called myself pro-choice. I never allowed myself to use the word pro-choice because I didn't FEEL I was pro-choice. I would protect the law, I said, as it was, but I wasn't pro-choice, and so..."
Tell us Curiosity, how Romney could "never deny" having been choice (as you contend) & yet "pro-choice" was NEVER a label Romney applied to himself...that he "NEVER allowed" himself "to use the word pro-choice" simply because he "didn't FEEL" he was "pro-choice?" [And that he was still claiming "I wasn't pro-choice..."???]
Wishing that you had the courage to be pro-life doesn’t make you pro-life. Saying you are pro-abortion makes you pro-abortion, even if you know you’re doing something wrong.
I don’t care if a politician wishes he were pro-life! Yet so many of them (like Romney) talk to the voters as if their “pro-life feelings” mattered. “I’m personally opposed.” Who gives a sh@t?
Oh my. When you are not defending Obama against those
who demand to see a real birth certificate, you
defending the indefensible backstabber and shapeshifter,
Mitt RomneyCARE (bankrupter of Massachusetts and
fascist imposer by usurping the Constitution).
Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmm.
So reasonable people with curiosity want to ask
you: why is that?
An editorial comment inserted into the title is never justified.
We ought to welcome converts to our cause, not shun them.
- - - - - - - -
I would if I had any reason to believe his ‘conversion’ is anything but a political ploy.
The treachery was from MITT ROMNEY and TEAM ROMNEY.
Rebut this if you can.
TeamROMNEY decided …… to attack Gov. Palin (and her defenseless children) to throw Election2008.
The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.
Erick Erickson, who organized Operation Leper, said:
"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."
Who benefits most from Sanford meltdown? Californian (that's right) Mitt Romney
"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"
"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"
"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"
Is that what you're arguing?
Romney never ran for Governor of Utah either. That’s my point.
Oh what a tangled web you have woven in an attempt to excuse slick willard. Nope, his pro-choice position was "seared" (and I do mean "seared") into him as a young lad. As he poignantly shared with the world in 1994 ...
We’re each entitled to strong personal beliefs. And we encourage other people to do the same. But as a nation we recognize the right of all people to believe as they want and not to impose our beliefs on other people. I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my Mom took that same position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it and I sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice."
Add to this, the completely lame, half-baked, "I've been a hunter all my life"-like, unpersuasive and confusing pro-life conversion story that he hatched along with his campaign operatives, and you have a tangled and sticky web that even slick mitty cannot escape.
If what you suggest were true (he was really always pro-life), he would never have gone 'all-in' on either of these idiotic statements.
My guess is that Scott Brown is also probably pro-life, but he can’t say so publicly as he could not have been elected Senator.
It is what it is.
I am not trying to excuse Romney at all. Just telling you how the world of politics works. It is what it is.
Romney isn’t my first choice for President, far from it.
Romney is just as honest as Mormon missionaries when ask them about about a man’s ability to become a God and that whether or not God was once a man.
Yes on not shunning pro-life converts -- UNLESS they continue to make political ploy out of waffling back & forth, back & forth, for their own political gain. Example: Herr Romney.
(1) Romney's on record saying his "pro-choice" opinions go back to when his mom ran for Senate (1970). [Pro-abortion, then, eh, Mitt?]
(2): "'He's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly,'" Romney adviser Michael Murphy told the conservative National Review last year, says the Concord Monitor (Source: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061210/REPOSITORY/612100304/1217/NEWS98) = So I guess that made him a below-the-radar "flip" acting like a "flop?"
(3) Romney now invokes in this thread's article a "nuanced stance" about what he was in 1994: He says "Look, I was pro-choice. I am pro-life. You can go back to YouTube and look at what I said in 1994. I never said I was pro-choice, but my position was effectively pro-choice.
Well, what are the 1994 facts?
FACT a: Romney's wife gave a donation in 1994 to Planned Parenthood...
FACT b: On June 12, 1994, Romney himself attended a private Planned Parenthood event at the home of a sister-in-law of a Planned Parenthood board member where the president of Planned Parenthood recalls talking to Romney.
"Nicki Nichols Gamble, a former president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said today that the photo shows Mitt and Ann Romney at a private home in Cohasset in June 1994." Source: See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1941932/posts
"Gamble said the pic was snapped at an event at GOP activist Eleanor Bleakie’s house and that she “clearly” remembered speaking with Romney at the event." Source: See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1941627/posts
"In fact Romney personally attended the Planned Parenthood event in question on June 12, 1994. Gamble, the President of Massachusuetts Planned Parenthood in 1994, also attended the event at the home of a Republican, Eleanor Bleakie, the sister-in-law of a Planned Parenthood Board member. Both Romney and Michael Kennedy, who appeared on behalf of nephew of Ted Kennedy, attended the event." Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1941240/posts
FACT c: 1994 campaign in Massachusetts "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time when my Mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice." (October, 1994 Senatorial debate vs. Ted Kennedy) = Mitt the flipster from what most LDS represent
(4): Fast forward to 2001, when Romney needs to reassure Utah Mormons that...he's not really "pro-choice," after all: "I do not wish to be labeled pro-choice." (Mitt Romney, Letter to the Editor, The Salt Lake Tribune, 7/12/01) = So he doesn't want to be known as a "flop" (so what is he?)
(5) “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose, and have devoted and am dedicated to honoring my word in that regard…(Nov. 2, 2002) = Well, now guess what? He's solidly pro-abortion AGAIN! See also: "I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose. This choice is a deeply personal one … Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government's." (Stephanie Ebbert, "Clarity Sought On Romney's Abortion Stance," The Boston Globe, 7/3/05) = Ah, back securely in the "flop" saddle again?
(6): In November of '04, he & his wife had simultaneous pro-life "conversions" where he links it to stem cell research = (So the pro-abortion-but-no-pro-choice-label-please-is-now-a-pro-life-convert? )
(7): On May 27 '05, he affirms his commitment to being "pro-choice" at a press conference. ("I am absolutely committed to my promise to maintain the status quo with regards to laws relating to abortion and choice.") = OK, this is at least a flop from November '04!
(8): What about his gubernatorial record 2003-2006? Mitt later says his actions were ALL pro-life. So I assume somewhere in 2005 or so were so pro-life decisions. ("As governor, I’ve had several pieces of legislation reach my desk, which would have expanded abortion rights in Massachusetts. Each of those I vetoed. Every action I’ve taken as the governor that relates to the sanctity of human life, I have stood on the side of life.") = So, then THESE ACTIONS were not only a reversal of his 2002 commitment, but his May 27, 2005 press conference commitment. So "flipping" is beginning to be routine
(9): April 12, 2006--Mitt signs his "Commonwealth Care" into existence, thereby expanding abortion access/taxpayer funded abortions for women--including almost 2% of the females of his state who earn $75,000 or more. (Wait a minute, I thought he told us post-'06 that ALL of his actions were "pro-life?"). Also, not only this, but as governor, Romney could exercise veto power to portions of Commonwealth Care. Did Romney exercise this power? (Yes, he vetoed Sections 5, 27, 29, 47, 112, 113, 134 & 137). What prominent section dealing with Planned Parenthood as part of the "payment policy advisory board" did Romney choose NOT to veto? (Section 3) That section mandates that one member of MassHealth Payment Policy Board must be appointed by Planned Parenthood League of MA. (See chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, section 3 for details).
(10): On January 29, 2007 during a visit to South Carolina, Romney stated: “Over the last multiple years, as you know, I have been effectively pro-choice." (Bruce Smith, "Romney Campaigns in SC with Sen. DeMint," The Associated Press, 1/29/07) = OK how could "every action I've taken as the governor that relates to the sanctity of human life..." AND this statement BOTH be true?
(11): Another South Carolina campaign stop has Romney uttering that "I was always for life”: "I am firmly pro-life… I was always for life." (Jim Davenport, "Romney Affirms Opposition to Abortion," The Associated Press, 2/9/2007) = Oh, of course as the above shows, he's always been pro-life!
(12) "I never said I was pro-choice, but my position was effectively pro-choice." Source: 2007 GOP Iowa Straw Poll debate 8/5/2007 = OK...looking at the 1994 & 2002 campaigns, both his public statements, his 2002 voter guide responses, & his actions (which are a major form of expression, ya know!) how could he say he "never said" he was "pro-choice?"
(13): Then comes his 8/12/07 interview with Chris Wallace of Fox: "I never called myself pro-choice. I never allowed myself to use the word pro-choice because I didn't FEEL I was pro-choice. I would protect the law, I said, as it was, but I wasn't pro-choice, and so..." = That whatever he was from 1970 when his mom ran as a pro-abortion senator & he sided with her, to 5/27/05, w/whatever interruption he had due to a pro-life altar call in Nov of '04, whatever that was...well, he assures us it wasn't a pro-abortion inlook or outlook 'cause he didn't feel "pro-choice..." = So does that make him a life-long pro-lifer?
I could also add how on embryonic research, Mitt went from...
...Singing the praises of embryonic research: June 13, 2002, where he: ...spoke at a bioethics forum at Brandeis University. In a Boston Globe story filed the next day, he was quoted as saying that he endorsed embryonic stem cell research, hoping it would one day cure his wife's multiple sclerosis. And he went on to say: "I am in favor of stem cell research. I will work and fight for stem cell research," before adding, "I'd be happy to talk to [President Bush] about this, though I don't know if I could budge him an inch." When pressed, however, Romney and his aides declined to offer an opinion on "therapeutic" or embryonic cloning. Source: weekly standard http://www.weeklystandard.com/content/public/articles/000/000/013/222htyos.asp?pg=1
...To a...
...Late-2004 Romney undergoing his pro-life "conversion" due to this very issue: Nov. 9, 2004: Romney met with Dr. Douglas Melton from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute: He recalls that it happened in a single revelatory moment, during a Nov. 9, 2004, meeting with an embryonic-stem-cell researcher who said he didn't believe therapeutic cloning presented a moral issue because the embryos were destroyed at 14 days. "It hit me very hard that we had so cheapened the value of human life in a Roe v. Wade environment that it was important to stand for the dignity of human life," Romney says. Source: Time Mag, March 9, 2007 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1619536-2,00.html
...To a...
...Late-2007 Romney who doesn't mind frozen embryonic life being "cheapened" or doesn't mind if they are excluded from his so-called "importance of protecting human equality, dignity, and life"...well that is, with this caveat: As long as Mom & Pop say it's OK for them to be sacrificed in such an experimental research manner!
The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.
Erick Erickson, who organized Operation Leper, said:
"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."
"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"
"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"
"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"
You aren’t making sense, you think that Romney was always pro-life is what you claimed, yet you completely ignore the proof that he wasn’t and go down another road.
It is clear that Romney was always pro abortion, it is the pro life switch that is doubtful.
Evidently you just live in your own world.
Romney took a pro-choice position once, but never used the label.
I grant you, the fact that he makes such a big deal about never using the label is a little odd, but it's not dishonest.
He always thought abortion was wrong, but up until 2004 did not think the state should make it illegal. He took the same admittedly incoherent position as many liberals take, that they are "personally opposed" to abortion but don't want impose that view on others.
Then he changed his mind.
Romney has never tried to hide any of this.
The only "lies" here are yours.
And Romney lies so insultingly.
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