I first commented Governor Romney's repositioning himself on the abortion debate back in February. While he campaigned in 2002 (and previously in 1994) as a pro-choice candidate, he at the time started marketing himself as 'personally pro-life' (whatever that means). Today's Globe has an article where Romney is finally quoted that he has, in fact, changed his position on reproductive rights, though he doesn't seem eager to tell anyone what that new position is.
"Understand, over time one's perspective changes somewhat," Romney told USA Today. "I'm in a different place than I was probably in 1994, when I ran against Ted Kennedy, in my own views on that." The governor declined to elaborate.Angus McQuilken from the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts had what I thought was the best quote of the article:
"It's just not credible to have one set of values when it comes to Massachusetts and another set of values when you decide you're going to present yourself to the voters nationally."Romney is being deliberately vague about his position, saying he won't change the status quo in Massachusetts, but he's changed his own position on the issue. Maybe it's just me, but I doubt that wishy-washy stance is going to play well with pro-life or pro-choice voters either here or nationally. Of course, Romney may be hoping that hardcore conservatives who oppose abortion in their own state are actually in favor of abortion here in the Commonwealth to limit the number of pesky "Massachusetts liberals".
Remember also that this is the same person who criticized Tom Reilly's admittedly muddled stance on the death penalty not two weeks ago. Let's compare the two. Reilly says he supports the death penalty but before we can implement it, we need to make sure our crime labs are funded and the governor is unwilling to do that and only put forth this bill to bolster his conservative credentials. Romney, on the other hand, says he supports the status-quo on abortion rights in Massachusetts due to his commitment to the voters, but won't say what his actual position is other than it's "evolved over time" and he is "in a different place" now. Say what you want about Reilly, but at least he's got the guts to be honest with the people of Massachusetts.
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