Wednesday, September 27, 2006

CyberRomney Watch   [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Enough people are e-mailing me this overwrought blog thread, that I’ll post on it before I get some sleep.

Abortion. Been there before. Will be there again. But Romney’s fought some good fights and made a case and moved in the right direction. The guy has an appreciation for the dignity of human life and our culture’s obligations toward protecting it. Some more quick links.

From the Hotline in 1994:

ABORTION CONTORTION: Romney, "who advocates abortion rights
as a candidate, acknowledges that as a Mormon lay leader he
counseled Mormon women not to have abortions except in cases of
rape, incest, or where the mother's life was at risk." Romney
said "there was no conflict between him advising against abortion
as a religious leader and espousing an abortion rights position
as a political candidate" (Lehigh/Phillips, BOSTON GLOBE, 10/20).

From July 2005, in the Boston Globe, as he vetoed an emergency-contraception-access bill :

I am prolife. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate.

Because Massachusetts is decidedly prochoice, I have respected the state's democratically held view. I have not attempted to impose my own views on the prochoice majority.

For all the conflicting views on this issue, it speaks well of our country that we recognize abortion as a problem. The law may call it a right, but no one ever called it a good, and, in the quiet of conscience people of both political parties know that more than a million abortions a year cannot be squared with the good heart of America.

You can't be a prolife governor in a prochoice state without understanding that there are heartfelt and thoughtful arguments on both sides of the question. Many women considering abortions face terrible pressures, hurts, and fears; we should come to their aid with all the resourcefulness and empathy we can offer. At the same time, the starting point should be the innocence and vulnerability of the child waiting to be born.

Romney's a leader, as more and more folks being exposed to him are seeing and noting. He needs to clearly communicate his committment to a culture of life over these next pre-primary months as he has been privately, especially, and will, I betcha, in some big ways publicly. But as far as then-vs.-now kinda stuff, I'll take his convincing evolution over any in the reverse direction anyday.

09/27 10:07 PMShare