2008 Republican Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney: On Abortion

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney boasts a clear history of supporting abortion rights. In 1994, while running against Senator Ted Kennedy for the U.S. senate, republican Mitt Romney said, "I believe society should allow individuals to do whatever they choose." Romney noted his personal experience, having had a family member die from a botched abortion.

Throughout the years, Romney advocated for abortion rights, endorsing RU-486 and strongly upholding safe and legal abortions.

Now hoping to win the republican presidential nominee spot for 2008, Mitt Romney has changed his tune. In 2005, Romney began spouting a pro-life agenda. His anti-choice beliefs spread to family planning issues, as he vetoed a emergency contraception to rape victims.

Most recently, Mitt Romney accepted a Political Leadership Award from the Massachusetts Citizens for Life. On May 10, 2007, Romney spoke at the pro-life group's Mother's Day dinner and said, "I recognize that it is awarded for where I am on the issue of life, not for where I've been. And I respect the fact that you arrived at this place of principle a long, long time ago. And I appreciate the fact that you're inclined to honor someone who arrived here only a few years ago."

Romney's supposed change of heart happened on November 9, 2005, when Mitt Romney met with a researcher about embryonic stem cells. Romney cites that very meeting as the day he became pro-life.

"It hit me very hard that we had so cheapened the value of human life in a Roe v. Wade environment that it was important to stand for the dignity of human life," Romney said in an interview with Time Magazine. "We learn with experience. We gain perspective over time, but the principles remain the same. I have a number of principles, and the principles remain the same."

Romney's mother Lenore supports the right to choose. As recently as 2005, Lenore Romney, who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, released a statement proclaiming her pro-choice opinions.

Romney's wife, Ann, who is believed to have previously supported abortion rights (as she did make a $150 contribution to Planned Parenthood in 1994) is now active with the Massachusetts Citizens for Life.

For all practical purposes, today Mitt Romney is against abortion rights - isolating pro-choice supporters from joining the Romney bandwagon. For the pro-life camp, however, Romney's history of supporting abortion rights makes them leery. Has Romney, who once governed arguably the most liberal state in the U.S., truly changed his mind on abortion? And if he has, has he honestly changed his politics accordingly? With those questions, neither side should trust him.

Some call his flip-flop convenient. Between Mitt Romney's time as Massachusetts' governor and since throwing his hat into the ring for the 2008 republican presidential race, Romney has flip-flopped on abortion rights and exaggerated his support of gun ownership rights. He's even questioned his own lack of military service and distanced himself from the Massachusetts statewide health care system - his biggest accomplishment as governor. The Massachusetts health care system, which covers virtually every resident, is costing the state much more than expected.

What can the American people expect from Mitt Romney? More of the same - a man with family ties to White House dreams, a man who's conveniently aligned his personal convictions with conservative republicans, and a man with a privileged pass of boarding schools and business deals. It's a story the American people have heard before and one they're unlikely to listen to again.