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The New York Times
Romney Pledges
Loyalty to Anti-Abortion
Agenda
By Carey Gillam,
Reuters from nytimes on the Web, June 16, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Missouri June 15
-- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is seeking the Republican
presidential nomination, sought to solidify support among social conservatives
on Friday, pledging to work against abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem
cell research if he is elected.
"You can be sure that I'll be bringing ... my veto pen with me to Washington,"
Romney told hundreds of anti-abortion activists attending the National Right to
Life convention in Kansas City.
Flanked by American flags and red, white and blue balloons, Romney got a
standing ovation as he told the crowd their work had helped convert him to their
cause.
"I proudly follow a long line of converts," Romney said. "When I first ran
for office, while I was always personally opposed to abortion ... I concluded
that I would support the law ... the pro-choice position. I was wrong."
Romney, the top Republican fund-raiser in the first quarter of 2007, has been
accused of adopting the anti-abortion stance as a matter of political
convenience.
Campaign aides to Republican rival John McCain this week released a video of a
May 2005 news conference where then-Gov. Romney said he was "absolutely
committed" to maintaining Massachusetts's abortion rights laws.
On Friday, he said the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized
abortion "continues to work its destructive logic throughout our society.
This cannot continue."
Romney insisted he had a "common dedication" to work with anti-abortion
activists on a range of issues, including embryonic stem cell research, another
issue where Romney has been accused of expressing conflicting views.
"What some see as just a clump of cells is actually a human life," he told the
crowd.
He also called for passage of a federal marriage amendment that would block
same-sex marriages, and criticized judges that he said have "taken it upon
themselves to be the final arbiters of our lives."
Ronda Putman, a California mother who traveled to the convention because she
considers "issues of life" more important to the country than the war in Iraq,
said she was unimpressed with Romney.
"Mitt Romney can stand up there and say everything he thinks we want to hear,
but I don't think he is sincere," said Putman, who said she has not yet decided
who to back among the presidential contenders.
Romney was followed to the podium by Sen. Sam Brownback, a favored son of U.S.
conservatives but considered a longshot for the Republican presidential
nomination.
Brownback was cheered wildly by the crowd, which ranged from infants to the
elderly, as he largely focused his remarks on his devotion to "life, whole life"
and pledged to work to overturn Roe V. Wade.
"We are winning the fight for life. We are going to win the fight for
life," Brownback said.
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