A vote for Romney is a vote against abortion rights

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Mitt may be playing to the center with his usual shameless pandering for votes, but everything about him, from his own stated views to his own party's platform to his selection of anti-choice extremist Paul Ryan as his running mate to his appointment of far-right Supreme Court justice, if elected, says that he'd work hard to overturn Roe v. Wade.

And it's telling that the anti-choice extremists who run the theocratic wing of the party, with theocracy rampant all throughout the party, aren't at all concerned about his recent remarks. Because either they know he's lying or they're confident they'd be able to control him in office and get their way. From TPM:

Anti-abortion groups are thoroughly convinced Mitt Romney is still one of them, despite his remarks Tuesday in Iowa that abortion would not be a part of his legislative agenda if elected.

"No alarm bells here," Tony Perkins, president of the anti-abortion Family Research Council, told TPM on Wednesday.

Perkins said the Romney campaign called him soon after Romney's remarks were published by the Des Moines Register and assured him it didn't represent a shift by Romney from his support for pro-life issues.

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Other anti-abortion leaders on Wednesday chalked up Romney's remarks as yet another foot-in-mouth moment from the Republican presidential nominee or as simply a case of getting caught off guard punting on a topic he doesn't discuss much.

"This is clearly not a good moment on this issue [for Romney]. It's a hiccup," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, told TPM.

But none of the groups reached by TPM were alarmed by the remarks or treating them as a betrayal of their cause.

"We wouldn't have endorsed him if I didn't truly believe he’s truly pro-life and has that conviction," Dannenfelser added. 

Remember this when you vote. 

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For more, see Andrew Rosenthal at the Times:

[On Tuesday], Mitt Romney told the editorial board of the Des Moines Register: "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda."

It sounded like Mr. Romney was trying to distance himself from the anti-abortion position he took during the primaries, when he called himself "an avidly pro-life governor" and said Americans could "count on me, as president, to pursue a policy that protects the life of unborn." It sounded like yet another flip-flop.

Fortunately, the campaign came to the rescue. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney, later told the National Review Online that "Governor Romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life."

In other words, he would make "legislation with regards to abortion" part of his agenda. Perhaps Mr. Romney just meant he did not know of any specific bills that would restrict abortion. But he might want to check in with his running mate, Paul Ryan, who co-sponsored the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," and helped introduced the term "forcible rape" into the national conversation.

Mr. Romney has said repeatedly that, given the opportunity, he would appoint a Supreme Court Justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade...

It's Romney vs. Romney again, the candidate contradicting himself over and over again. On abortion, though, he has repeatedly embraced right-wing Republican orthodoxy, and it's pretty clear that's what he'd push for if elected. Which is why the theocrats are fully behind him now.