Wiki: Mitt Romney claims relative died from illegal abortion.

[MethuenProgressive]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney

As of 2007, Romney holds <[pro-life>] views, though in 1994 he supported <[abortion rights>] in Massachusetts because a relative died as the result of an illegal abortion.

This sounds a lot like his "lifetime hunter" claim to me.

[graywarrior]

1. Oily creep.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. That Was When He Was Running to The LEFT of Ted Kennedy!

See for yourself, as he debated Kennedy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI

[MethuenProgressive]

6. Oh, I don't doubt for a minute he said it. What I doubt is if it's true.

A mormon getting an illegal abortion?
Sorry, not buying it, Mitt.

[dsc]

13. His mother was a convert

[Olney Blue]

3. So he wants to change his mind and enable illegal abortions again?

[IndianaGreen]

5. Women and gays must die for the glory of GAWD!

That's what all of these patriarchal religions believe in and preach.

[aquart]

4. I dunno. Don't most of us have a relative that died like that?

I do. Of course, it was called "a fall down the stairs."

Lotta women died falling down stairs back when.

[lolly]

10. Exactly.

If we all look through our family trees, many of us will find a picture of some great-aunt who, as you said, "fell down stairs" or "off a ladder" when she was, oh, about 17 or so. Amazing how clumsy young women were in the pre-Rowe era. Mine "fell off a barn roof." She survived, but somehow the fall off the roof made her unable to have children.

[aquart]

11. Her name was Bessie.

She was my mother's favorite cousin.

[TwilightGardener]

7. I can believe it--I'm sure that sort of stuff happened pretty regularly

back in the bad old days. It's just a bit uncouth to blow off your poor dead relative for political opportunity, however. But Mittens is slick. He's getting all his goofups and flip-flops out there now, and they will eventually lose their impact and just become part of the narrative. Watch out for the Mittler, because he'll say or do anything to get elected, like McCain, but he's younger and better-looking. Dangerous and not to be underestimated.

[Mz Pip]

14. If Mittens ever starts polling

better, instead of the distant 3rd he's at now, expect McCain's henchmen to use those flip-flops and goof-ups in his ads. Look for 527s to pop up too. A well put together ad filled with fear and hyperbole will just magnify Mitten's flip flops.

Mittens has given his opponents a wealth of gems to use against him. And they will if he ever gets close to them.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[BearSquirrel2]

15. How did it come to this point ...

It used to be that all Republican front-runners were longtime knuckle dragging adherents to wing-nut philosophy. Now the Republican front-runners are reformed progressive who are setting speed records for backflipping all the way into the Carolinas. When they get to Mississippi, they'll have accomplished feats never dreamed of by any gymnast.

Seriously, if Republicans that that KERRY was a flip-flopper because he voted differently based on the riders attached to a war bill what are they going to think of:

a) Romney who was pro-choice and governor of the most liberal state in the union (so we've been told) Assachusetts.
b) Giuliani, the man who has no shame about bringing a mistress into the house of state and booting out his wife. The man who is fine if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, and just as peachy if they don't.
c) McCain, the man who railed against religious zealotry in 2000 until the zealots came out and voted against him. The man who railed against torture, then said nothing while George Bush promised that he will torture if he wants to.

Huckabee seemed to be the only sane one until he raised his hand the other night to count himself down into the pit of religious fundamentalism.

With the general mood of the country leaning against wing-nuttery, I can understand the Republicans wanting to run moderates. But sheesh, can they not apply 1/10 of the standards they apply to Democrats to Republicans. Why not just get rid of the primaries and hold a game of twister to decide the nominee.

[Mz Pip]

17. RIght now I think

name recognition has a lot to do with it. Everyone in the whole country knows who McCain and Guiliani are. Mittens may be polling third but it's like 9%. I think his popularity is the tax cut thing. Guiliani is running to the right since that's where the primary voters are. I think these guys will shread each other as the primary season moves along. Whoever compares himself to Ronald Reagan the most gets extra points.

Huckabee did seem sane. When he was on the Daily Show he seemed comfortable, likable and had a sense of humor. But you're right about the evolution thing. With the raising of that hand he showed himself to be just another fundy nutjob, a pleasant, likable one, but a nutjob none the less.

I wish Matthews had asked more forcefully about the flip-flops. Mittens answer that he decided he was against abortion because he came to the conclusion that cloning was bad was hardly a reasonable answer.

I hope someone is doing some serious opposition research on Thompson. He'll jump to the head of the pack IMHO if he decides to run. He's an actor and as a long time resident of California I can tell you folks sure do like actors.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Forkboy]

21. Assachussetts!

:rofl:

I live here and that's a new one on me.

[splat]

8. Good interview/debate question: Is the relative real? n/t

[valerief]

9. He was for it before he was against it. nt

[Prophet 451]

12. Might be true

Pre-Roe I'm sure a fair few women died of illegal, botched abortions (anyone got numbers?) but logically, they should make one pro-choice.

[lolly]

18. OK, so I spelled it wrong.

Yeah, it's Roe, not Rowe.

I think the point was that, when Romney claimed to be against criminalizing abortion, he used his relative as his excuse, per Wikipedia.

Now, he says he's against it. Our inference is that, assuming he was telling the truth before, his attitude now is "To hell with her, she deserved to die for her sins."

I don't have the numbers on deaths from illegal abortion, and anything official is probably way undercounted (see the "Falling off a ladder" posts above) but I've heard that "maternity wards" of earlier eras, which now almost exclusively house new mothers, once had a substantial number of victims of illegal abortions.

[Prophet 451]

19. So, he's a hypocrite?

He's a hypocrite, he's a Republican presidential contender. But I repeat myself.

Given how weak the crop of Republican hopefuls is this time around (seriously, Tom frickin' Tancredo?) and given how in love with their own power teh R's are, we shouldn't be surprised at anything they pull between now and the election. Seriously, if I was Obama or Hillary, I'd stay off small aircraft.

[AzDar]

16. Romney is nothing but a well-coiffed weasel.

[Forkboy]

22. Hey...easy on the weasels.

Even they're embarrassed by this guy. :)

[lolly]

20. OK, on deaths from illegal abortion--

From "Lessons from Before Roe:"

One stark indication of the prevalence of illegal abortion was the death toll. In 1930, abortion was listed as the official cause of death for almost 2,700 women—nearly one-fifth (18%) of maternal deaths recorded in that year. The death toll had declined to just under 1,700 by 1940, and to just over 300 by 1950 (most likely because of the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, which permitted more effective treatment of the infections that frequently developed after illegal abortion). By 1965, the number of deaths due to illegal abortion had fallen to just under 200, but illegal abortion still accounted for 17% of all deaths attributed to pregnancy and childbirth that year. And these are just the number that were officially reported; the actual number was likely much higher.

Poor women and their families were disproportionately impacted. A study of low-income women in New York City in the 1960s found that almost one in 10 (8%) had ever attempted to terminate a pregnancy by illegal abortion; almost four in 10 (38%) said that a friend, relative or acquaintance had attempted to obtain an abortion. Of the low-income women in that study who said they had had an abortion, eight in 10 (77%) said that they had attempted a self-induced procedure, with only 2% saying that a physician had been involved in any way.

These women paid a steep price for illegal procedures. In 1962 alone, nearly 1,600 women were admitted to Harlem Hospital Center in New York City for incomplete abortions, which was one abortion-related hospital admission for every 42 deliveries at that hospital that year. In 1968, the University of Southern California Los Angeles County Medical Center, another large public facility serving primarily indigent patients, admitted 701 women with septic abortions, one admission for every 14 deliveries.

So, there you go.

If you want to prevent abortions, make birth control readily available, educate people in how to use it, de-stigmatize illegitimate birth, and provide support for mothers.

If you just want to kill and maim young women, then criminalize abortion.

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. Not a family member. A "close family friend"

In the 1994 Senate campaign, Romney said abortion should be safe and legal. He also voiced support for the controversial abortion pill RU-486. In a debate with Kennedy that year, he explained how his belief in abortion rights had been shaped by the death of a close family friend years before from an illegal abortion.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/12/17/romneys_journey_to_the_right/?page=3

[Iris]

24. and he thinks abortion should be against the law because. . . ????

Romney. . .Romney. . .Romney. . . ??????