In case you missed it, Salon has an excellent piece on the origins of Mitt Romney’s old pro-choice stance: it turns out that one of his relatives died from an illegal abortion in 1963.
He alluded to this in a 1994 debate with Ted Kennedy, but Salon finally identifies the woman as Anne Keenan, the sister of Romney’s brother-in-law, who died when she was only 21. The article states that Keenan’s “grief-stricken parents asked for memorial donations to be made to Planned Parenthood; and that the family apparently wanted to keep the death quiet because Romney’s politically ambitious father, George, was then governor of Michigan.”
The piece also describes Romney’s pro-choice action as a politician:
That year [1994], he even attended a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, and his wife, Ann, gave $150 to the group. And while he used much more muted language, Romney vowed during his successful 2002 campaign for governor of Massachusetts to uphold the state’s abortion laws. But in 2005, as he prepared to seek the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, Romney switched gears and announced in a Boston Globe Op-Ed that he was changing his position, describing himself as “prolife” and arguing that states should be able to set their own abortion laws.
Well, at least we know where Romney’s backbone went. He left it in 1994. Read the whole thing here.
In the wake of ideological attacks on abortion—like the latest craze, legal personhood status for fetuses—and literal attacks on abortion—like last month’s firebombing attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in McKinney, Texas—I respectfully request the return of Mitt Romney, 1994 model. But perhaps we can take cold comfort in the knowledge that at least his hair is as majestic now as it was then.
Ahhh, remember when you could be a pro-choice republican? Me neither, because I was in Kindergarden at the time.
Paul,
ask your boss Danny
where/when his Iraq War backbone went AWOL.
K?
thankx!
Isn’t Dan’s middle name Keenan? What’s that TV show where family trees are traced…
Somebody needs to start paying this unpaid intern. I like her.
A very sad commentary on the rightward (and nutward) drift of the republican party over the past 20 years.
@3: Jerry Springer or Maury.
$150? With a fortune like his, they should be ashamed to give so little. Wait. They’re Republicans. Never mind.
#1
Did they have the morning after pill then?
How terrible for the poor young lady and her family. How sad that their grief is a shame to Romney, who should be celebrating her life and fighting so that women the world over need not suffer the same fate she did. Sadly, he’s just another anti-life shill.
@8 – Yes. Why do you ask?
@6: No, no, it’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” That’s it.
How terrible for the poor innocent baby.
And 900,000 more just like it each and every year.
didn’t ask to be conceived but the ‘adults’ in its life made choices and here it is.
or was…..
we only get one shot at life.
doesn’t seem fair to have yours snuffed out before you ever draw a breath or feel the sun on your face.
it seems that the sanctimonious self-righteous guardians of fairness would be up in arms about it.
instead of howling like bloodthirsty beasts for the unfettered right to slaughter at will.
but the arc of moral justice,
it won’t be denied in the end…..
everyone gets what they have coming. eventually.
@12- so….you’re saying pro-choice people are going to hell, or are going to be killed by pro-lifers? or both? Your meaning was clouded by a fog of poorly-written prose.
13
it’s pretty clear.
when you shake off your hangover come back and tell us what parts confuse you…..