Fred Martinez's Monitor

Romney Lied; Most Actions as Governor were on the Side of Death

Romney lied when he said " [E]very action I took as governor came down on the side of life." Most action I took as governor came down on the side of life."

Read the evidence.

Fred

"I'm very proud of the fact that I became pro-life, just like Ronald Reagan did," [Romney] said. "When theory met reality when I became governor, every action I took as governor came down on the side of life."

CNN's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
[http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/26/romney.huckabee/]

Abortion Issues

Romney supports abortion in general, and believes in sustaining Roe v. Wade.
"Romney ran against Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1994. During a debate, Romney declared: 'I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a US Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.' "
(NOTE: Romney has supported abortion since before the 1972 Roe v. Wade ruling!)
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2006
Video of Romney vs Kennedy 1994 debate.

"When [during their debate] Kennedy called him 'multiple choice,' Romney demanded an extra rebuttal. He revealed that a close relative died of an illegal abortion years ago and said, 'Since that time, my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter, and you will not see my wavering on that.' "
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2006
"On a questionnaire Planned Parenthood gave to the gubernatorial candidates in 2002, Romney answered ''yes" to the question, 'Do you support the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade?' Romney also professed support for state funding of abortion services for low-income women, [Erin] Rowland [spokeswoman for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts] said." - Boston Globe, 3/25/2005
"Marie Sturgis, legislative director of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, said she hasn't detected any change in Romney's stance. The group considers Romney to be an abortion-rights supporter, as do national antiabortion groups such as the Family Research Council."
- Boston Globe, 3/25/2005
Romney campaigned for Governor of Massachusetts as a pro-choice candidate, and was endorsed by a pro-abortion political group
"Romney, a Republican and the former Winter Olympics chief, was endorsed by the New York-based Republican Pro-Choice Coalition. He mentioned his mother, Lenore Romney, who favored abortion rights when she ran for the U.S. Senate in 1970, even before the 1973 Roe v. Wade case affirmed women's constitutional right to abortions. . . . Lynn Grefe, director of the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, applauded Romney's 'commitment to family planning and protecting a woman's right to choose' in a letter on Wednesday."
- Associated Press / New Bedford Standard-Times 10/3/2002
"Gubernatorial candidates Shannon O'Brien and Mitt Romney sparred yesterday over who was the strongest abortion rights supporter by touting endorsements from abortion rights groups and challenging each other's records on the issue . . . O'Brien and Romney both say that if elected they'll uphold state and federal laws protecting abortion rights. 'There isn't a dime of difference between Mitt Romney's position on choice and Shannon O'Brien,' said Kerry Healey, Romney's running mate."
- Associated Press / New Bedford Standard-Times 10/3/2002
In 2002, Romney responded to the National Abortion Rights Action League's candidate survey: ''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. The truth is, no candidate in the governor's race in either party would deny women abortion rights." Notably, Romney refused to answer the candidate questionnaire sent to him by Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
- Boston Globe, 7/3/2005
During the 2002 governor's race, Romney's platform stated, "As Governor, Mitt Romney would protect the current pro-choice status quo in Massachusetts. No law would change. The choice to have an abortion is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not the government's."
- Romney's 2002 campaign website
Romney is willing to support some embryonic stem cell research
"Romney has decided to support experimentation on surplus frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilization procedures."
- National Review Online 2/11/2005
Romney Approves of Abortion Pill and Supports the Legalization of RU-486
"When he ran for governor in 2002, Romney said he supported expanding access to the emergency contraception pill, a high dose of hormones that women can take to prevent pregnancy up to five days after sex . . . On a questionnaire Planned Parenthood gave to the gubernatorial candidates in 2002, Romney answered 'yes' to the question, 'Do you support efforts to increase access to emergency con-traception?' "
- Boston Globe 7/7/2005
In 2002, the Boston Globe reported Romney's positions from his1994 campaign as follows: "ABORTION: Favored basic Roe v. Wade abortion rights, though would not endorse a specific version of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would codify those court-established rights as federal law . . . Said he would leave the matter of Medicaid funding for abortion to individual states . . . Endorsed legalization of RU-486, the abortion-inducing drug."
- Boston Globe, 3/19/2002
"I don't really understand how it works or when it works but my understanding is it's an effective morning after pill and I think it would be a positive thing to have women have the choice of taking morning-after pills….I would favor having it available."
- Boston Herald, 5/19/1994
"A new law to make emergency contraception more available in Massachusetts continues to be a political rollercoaster for Governor Mitt Romney. He supported expanded access when campaigning for governor, but vetoed a bill expanding access, earlier this year. The bill then passed over his veto. Earlier this week, the governor sought to exempt Catholic and other private hospitals from having to offer 'morning after pills' to rape victims. Then yesterday, he reversed his position."
- WBUR Radio, Boston, 12/9/2005
Romney signs "Right to Privacy" Proclamation celebrating birth control availability
In March, 2005, Romney signed an annual proclamation establishing a ''Right to Privacy Day" to mark the anniversary of Baird v. Eisenstadt, a 1972 Supreme Court ruling legalizing birth control for unmarried people. Interestingly, Romney's staff deleted references to Roe v. Wade from the previous year's proclamation.
- Boston Globe, 3/25/2005
[http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:YZp8hH7VrVwJ:www.massresistance.org/docs/marriage/romney/record/+Romney+Patrick+Guerriero+2004+Civil+Unions&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&ie=UTF-8]

posted by Fred Martinez @ 10:14 AM