Mitt Romney On Abortion

No matter how you feel about abortion, Mitt Romney has agreed with you at some point in his political career.  

Here's a look through his oft-shifting position. 

“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 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, and my personal beliefs, like the personal beliefs of other people, should not be brought into a political campaign.”

“Many years ago, I had a dear close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion. It is since that time that my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we should not force our beliefs on others on that matter, and you will not see me wavering on that.”

    -- Massachusetts Senate debate, 1994

“When asked if I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose, I make an unequivocal answer: yes.”

    -- TV interview during his campaign for governor of Massachusetts, 2002

“When I was out west, I indicated that I didn’t want to be called pro-choice and I didn’t want to be called pro-life, that I didn’t accept either label. Let me give you the background: in 1970, there was a woman who ran for U.S. Senate in a conservative Republican state. She took a bold position because this was before Roe v. Wade, a position that she was in favor of choice. She lost, but she did it with great honor and boldness. She was my mom, Lenore Romney. She had strong personal views on the issue, which she abided by. She also believed in the separation of church and state, as I do. Let me make this very clear: I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose, and this should not be made a political issue in this campaign.”

    -- Massachusetts gubernatorial debate, 2002

“We should overturn Roe v. Wade and return these issues to the states. I would welcome a circumstance where there was such a consensus in this country that we said we don’t want to have abortion in this country at all, period. That’d be wonderful. I’d be delighted to sign that bill, but that’s not where we are. Where America is is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and return to the states that authority. But if the Congress got there, we had that kind of consensus in that country, terrific.”

    -- Republican presidential debate, 2007

“I have always opposed abortion, but when I ran for office, I thought, ‘Well, I can say, and I can understand the idea of leaving the law the way it is. The Supreme Court has made its decision, I’m just going to say I’ll support the law and preserve the law as it exists. That was somewhat naïve, as it turns out, because I found out when I became governor, that you can’t just support it how it is, that the law changes over time. I had a piece of legislation that came to my desk that would redefine when life began in my state, would also authorize the creation of embryos for the purpose of experimentation and ultimately destroying them. So I said, ‘Look, I am pro-life. I will defend the sanctity of human life.’ I vetoed that bill.”

    -- Interview with Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, 2011

“The key decisions I’ll take as president will be, number one, stop funding for Planned Parenthood, reinstituting the Mexico City policy, which says our funds can’t be used for abortion around the world, and appointing justices to the Supreme Court that will follow the Constitution, hopefully reverse Roe v. Wade.”

    -- Interview with WNWO, Toledo, Ohio, 2012


 

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