Washington Post Profiles Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Changing Views On Abortion

The Washington Post on Thursday profiled Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and his changing views on issues including abortion as he begins his 2008 presidential campaign. Since he first ran for U.S. Senate in 1994, Romney has acknowledged that his position on abortion has changed from "proudly" supporting abortion rights to saying that he would "like to see" Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court decision that effectively barred state abortion bans -- overturned, according to the Post. Romney during his election campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1994 said, "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country," and "I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, we should sustain and support it." In addition, when Romney ran for Massachusetts governor in 2002, he promised to "preserve the status quo" on abortion rights in the state and oppose any changes to state laws that restricted or increased access to abortion, according to the Post. Romney "has lived up to that promise," but in 2004 when he studied human embryonic stem cell research, he experienced an "awakening that led him to the conclusion that 'the sanctity of life had been cheapened' by the Roe decision," the Post reports. According to the Post, the "apparent gulf" between Romney's views when he ran for the Senate in 1994 and his present views as he prepares to run for president "raise[s] questions as to who is the real Mitt Romney" (Balz/Murray, Washington Post, 12/21).

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