Romney says Ryan won't oppose abortion in rape cases (Romney supports both rape & incest abortion)

JS Online ^ | Aug. 20, 2012 | James Rowen

[xzins]

Odious remarks by GOP Missouri Senate candidate Cong. Todd Akin about how few pregnancies result from "legitimate rape" have done more than outrage people across the country and doom Akin's bid to move up from the House.

It motivated the Romney campaign - - already trailing among women voters in recent polls - - to distance itself from Akin by assuring voters that Romney and Paul Ryan - - the "Romney-Ryan administration" - - should they win in November, would not oppose raped women's access to abortion.

"Governor Romney and Congressman (Paul) Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said.

You'd probably say that sounds reasonable and humane - - except it was just three days ago that PolitiFact devoted a lot of space to this issue and found that while Romney backed abortions in cases of incest and rape, Ryan did not.

And had been an abortion opponent throughout his entire political career - - backing an exception only when the life of the mother was at stake - - thus earning a perfect score from a leading anti-abortion organization on this basic tenet of conservative ideology and practice.

News coverage of Ryan’s first congressional race in 1998, as well as statements he made to the National Right to Life Committee, a leading anti-abortion group, show Ryan has taken a stricter anti-abortion view than Romney.

The only anti-abortion exception Ryan favors is situations where an abortion is needed to save the life of the mother, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The National Right to Life Committee concurs, based on information the group says it collected in 1998 and 2000 from Ryan as a candidate.

[DallasSun]

The people calling for him to step down are for the most part Republicans who want him to step down now so someone who can win can start campaigning. He cannot win now. No chance. He needs to get out of the race today.

[xzins]

2005-2007. http://www.westernjournalism.com/warning-to-pro-life-voters-romney-on-abortion/ Romney appointed pro-abortion judges to the bench. The Boston Globe reviewed Romney’s judicial nominations and found that Romney “passed over GOP lawyers for three-quarters of the 36 judicial vacancies he has faced, instead tapping registered Democrats or independents – including two gay lawyers who have supported expanded same-sex rights.” Given the fact the Democrat party in Massachusetts is extremely pro-abortion, we can assume most of the Democrats Romney nominated to the bench were pro-abortion. Many of the appointments occurred after Romney’s conversion, including that of Stephen Abany, a far left Democrat homosexual activist nominated in 2005. Another example would be the nomination of liberal pro-abortion Democrat Matthew Nestor to a lifetime seat on the Somerville District court. Even ABC described Nestor as “an avowed supporter of abortion rights.” (7)

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/articles/part6_main/; ABC News.com, 6/14/07,

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3279653&page=1;

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/25/78

[DallasSun]

There are many of us who are not voting for Romney. Nor are we voting for Obama. That does not make us Obama supporters. It makes us voters who are not voting for Romney.

[sam_paine]

Why would we expect the President’s views on abortion to correlate with how many abortions are committed in the country?

That is EXACTLY the point, my FRiend.

The President's "view" on abortion have no EFFECT on the number of abortions.

However, Obama's views on infanticide and his support of NOW and Planned Parenthood pretty much guarantee that public funding will find its way from my pocket into abortions via Obamacare.

So it's irrational to try to reduce abortions by promoting the Obama campaign's agenda.

[mlizzy]

The same with the “health of the mother” exception. Cold, flu, psychological distress, emotional distress, hanging fingernal, and tiny booboo are all “health”.

Ain't that the truth? You can visualize the baby-in-the-womb saying, "Well, my mom says her hair looks bad today, and she can't emotionally deal with that on top of her morning sickness because of me."

[sam_paine]

xzins: He already owns ABOs. They told him: “Heart, soul, and mind, Mitty, we have no place else to go.”

ABO's: realists

ABR's: ?

-------

Seriously, xzins, what is it about Virgil Goode's history running as a Democrat or losing to Democrats that makes him appear so consistent to you?

Virginia's 5th congressional district: Results 1996–2008^[49]

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
1996		Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	120,323	61%		George C. Landrith III	70,869	36%		George R. "Tex" Wood	Virginia Reform	6,627	3%	*
1998		Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	73,097	99%		(no candidate)				Write-ins		785	1%
2000		John W. Boyd, Jr.	65,387	31%		(no candidate)				Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	Independent	143,312	67%	*
2002		Meredith M. Richards	54,805	36%		Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	95,360	63%		Write-ins		68	1%
2004		Al C. Weed II	98,237	36%		Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	172,431	64%		Write-ins		90	1%
2006		Al C. Weed II	84,682	40%		Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	125,370	59%		Joseph P. Oddo	Independent Green	1,928	1%	*
2008		Tom Perriello	158,810	50.1%		Virgil H. Goode, Jr.	158,083	49.9%						*

[sitetest]

Really good post. An often overlooked point.

[MEGoody]

Didnt he ever hear of TV and other electric media? Did he think the interview/he was in a closed forum anti-abortion fundraiser?

I simply see nothing wrong with what he said. It's sad that so many Republicans want to thrown him under the bus because of how the MSM has spun what he said. You'd think at least the conservative Republicans would know better.

[Boogieman]

“Have you ever thought about the possibility that a woman who has conceived as the result of a rape and knows that she could abort that baby could actually be empowered...”

While I’m sure lots of people feel a sense of power when you give them permission to murder other human beings, I don’t think that is the best argument in favor of anything.

[Notary Sojac]

Yes I do, but I do not think that something has the force of law simply because I happen to believe it.

[SoCalTransplant]

I have a daughter, and if she ever came to me and said ‘dad, I was raped and now I’m pregnant’, we’re going to have a discussion.

Part of this, because I’m not an idiot, is to going to be to try to determine if she really was raped or if this was really consentual, including we need to get an exam and go after the guy criminally. Then we will have a talk about what a great thing it would be if she could stand to have the baby and keep it or give it up for adoption.

However, if at the end of this discussion, she says “Dad, I just can’t do it”, then I’ll tell you what I’m NOT going to do. I’m not going to say “well, thats too bad, I dont care if you dont want this, or what your dreams were for life, and school and sports or whatever...you have to have this baby, and the only choice you get in this whole thing is whether you give it up for adoption or keep it and hope it doesn’t grow up to look like the rapist”. And woe be to the purist that tries to interfere and force her to do anything.

And because I wont do that to my daughter, I wont demand it of anyone else’s daughter either. If a woman is able to have the baby and give it up or keep it and raise it, I applaud you, and this tight fisted conservative would gladly give what I can to help you along the way. But I’ll be damned if I ever put myself in a position where I literally or via policy where I looked some young girl in the face and said ‘so sorry that you were horribly violated, but you’re having a baby whether you like it or not’.

I dont feel this in any way prevents me from being pro life...and I’ll go a step further, I dont have the least bit of fear of the prospect of standing before God and explaining my decision. But if it prevents me from being in someones category of what is “officially pro life” then well, I care about that about as much as I care about what American Idol is going to do without J-Lo.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”I simply see nothing wrong with what he said. It's sad that so many Republicans want to thrown him under the bus because of how the MSM has spun what he said. You'd think at least the conservative Republicans would know better”

He was trying to make a difficult point to get across to begin with, then blew up the whole issue claiming that women who REALLY get raped shutdown their biological systems so they don't get pregnant?? (and here he is arguing against abortion and contraceptives yet??)
That is just downright stupid, and politically suicidal.

I remember when Sharon Angle said on camera said that her NV (desired) voters were unemployed because they were soft.

Might as well skip election day and save money with candidates like them.

[wagglebee]

In the minds of the RINOs there is NEVER a good time to talk about abortion. Obviously, abortion is not a priority to them and that is their prerogative; however, it is my prerogative to vote for somebody who DOES recognize the importance of abortion.

[Boogieman]

You talk about forcing your daughter to do something, as if not getting an abortion and murdering that baby is the default, inactive choice, and letting the child naturally develop and be born is a forced, active choice. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Absent any special action, that child will be born; it takes an active intervention to kill it and stop that from happening.

For the life of me, I can’t understand how you would think that approving of your daughter committing a murder would somehow help her get over the trauma of rape either. I can see how people might think, in an emotional state, that it would help, but that’s not going to be the case in reality. Making the child “disappear” won’t erase the memory or trauma of the rape, it will just burden the rape victim with a guilty conscience for the rest of her life.

[tallyhoe]

this blogger is full of it!

James Rowen’s blog is part of our Purple Wisconsin project. Rowen is a political writer and environmental consultant who has had careers in journalism and public service.

[MEGoody]

Might as well skip election day and save money with candidates like them.

That's certainly what the "establishment" Republicans want you to do. They sure don't want them uppity tea party candidates getting elected.

[a fool in paradise]

Barack Obama supports letting babies that survive botched abortions to die gasping for air for hours and hours without any aid or assistance as he is unwilling to concede that is a living breathing human being.

But don’t let your hate of Romney get in the way of supporting a genuine antiChrist demon.

[paul544]

You’re right. It is a good thing and I’m sure Team Obama appreciates the distractions from the economy and record high gas prices and Obamacare and...

[FourtySeven]

That’s a very interesting post thank you for posting it and including me in the ping.

[NKP_Vet]

“Kill the child and let the rapist live? If you’re going to kill someone over rape, doesn’t it make more sense to kill the rapist and let the child live”?
~ Pat Buchanan

Kiessling gives a three-step process in terms of how candidates should answer the question:

1. The Supreme Court has said that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment for rapists and that rapists don’t deserve the death penalty. I don’t think the innocent child conceived in rape deserves the death penalty for the crimes of her father. It seems to me that is cruel and unusual punishment.

2. Rape victims are four times more likely to die within the next year after the abortion, with a higher rate of suicide, murder, drug overdose, etc.. As someone who really cares about rape victims, I want to protect them from the rapist, and from the abortion, and not the baby. A baby is not the worst thing that could ever happen to a rape victim — an abortion is. We need to educate the American public on the truth in this matter and not make public policy based on myth and misinformation.

3. Rape victims choose abortion at half the rate of the average unplanned pregnancy, which is over 50%. Only 15-25% of rape victims choose abortion, depending on the study. The majority of rape victims choose to raise her child — not “the rapist’s baby” — HER child.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/08/20/woman-conceived-in-rape-responds-to-akin-abortion-controversy/