Romney and Gingrich Are Pro-What? And Who Is On RightOn’s Short List?

Julie Rovner of NPR blogged that Mitt Romney never really was pro-choice. Here’s the quote:

“In Massachusetts, when he was running for governor…a very liberal state, a state that was pro-choice, he was playing to the audience,” says Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “And he made promises to the pro-choice community at that time that he did not keep,” she said, including vetoing a bill that would have provided emergency contraceptives to victims of rape. “So the fact of the matter is he was not authentic in his position at that time.”

Rovner then points out that Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, is disappointed with Romney’s refusal to sign her list and says “Romney still has more work to do to convince doubters… Honestly anyone can wear the sticker that says ‘pro-life,’” Rovner reports that Romney refused to sign, his campaign said that “the pledge would limit who he could appoint to some key positions in his administration.” We think key administration officials should be limited to pro-life persons.

Even now, after his pro-life conversion, Romney is not entirely on board. Here at RightOnLife.org, I’ve expressed a strenuous anti-endorsement of Romney.

RedState.com suggests that Newt Gingrich is pro-choice, quoting his record of support for tax funded abortion, tax funded embryonic stem cell research, and tolerance for candidates who support partial birth abortion. That’s a compelling argument. Gingrich alleges a “98.6% Lifetime Pro-Life Rating from the National Right to Life Committee”, with no link to support the claim. The search feature at the NRLC website returns zero results for “lifetime rating”. Where did Gingrich’s rating come from? Everyone says Gingrich is smart. I’ll buy that. The question is whether it would be smart to support him. Probably not.

What of the rest of the field of Republican Candidates?

The Family Leader dis-endorsed Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain, and Ron Paul. Shane Vander Hart of Caffeinated Thoughts agrees.

We at Right On Life have posted strong criticisms of Herman Cain and Ron Paul; but we’ve stopped short of an anti-endorsement. Right On also recommends someone more suitable than Rick Perry. We have been silent on Jon Huntsman.

Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum are clearly our favorites.

Related articles

• Mitt Romney So Good? (newstatusquo.wordpress.com)
• Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: While Cain flounders, Newt’s voters are the ones that show up (dailykos.com)
• Romney pushes back at flip-flopper tag (thehill.com)
• Romney Claims George W. Bush Flip-Flopped On Abortion Too (thinkprogress.org)
• Cain reconsidering campaign after allegation of 13-year affair (boston.com)