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GREENVILLE, S.C. -- As they quizzed four candidates on their positions on abortion, the moderators of a pro-life forum here gave each presidential hopeful an opportunity to take a jab at the one candidate who did not participate in the event: Mitt Romney.
One of the moderators at the event, sponsored by Personhood USA, told the crowd of at least 250 at the Greenville Hilton hotel that the Romney campaign said they had scheduling difficulties, but that a similar scheduling conflict arose during a similar event in Iowa.
Underscoring his absence, candidates were each asked to contrast their positions with those of Romney, or asked what they would handle certain situations differently than he did as Massachusetts governor.
"How would you differentiate your record and Gov. Romney's record on life?" one of the panelists at the forum, sponsored by Personhood USA, asked Rick Perry, the first of the candidates to speak.
"We don't have enough time," Perry said as the crowd laughed.
He said he took issue with Romney's switch from favoring abortion rights to being pro-life in his fifties, saying he would not have such a problem with it if his revelation had occurred earlier in life.
"In your fifties… it was clear to most of us that this was a choice for convenience. This was a decision that Gov. Romney made for political convenience, not an issue of his heart."
Newt Gingrich was asked to address Romney's signing of 198 same-sex marriage licenses, which Romney said he was compelled to do by the state supreme court.
"Can a state or federal executive challenge a constitutional ruling when they believe it is clearly erroneous?" one of the moderators asked.
Gingrich began his answer not by talking about the marriage licenses, but by criticizing both Romney's switch on abortion and his signing into law the Massachusetts health care plan, which includes an individual mandate to buy insurance.
"Gov. Romney also, after becoming pro-life, passed Romneycare with taxpayer funded abortions," Gingrich said.
Continuing his attack against the former governor's shifting positions, Gingrich said "his administration approved paying for an abortion clinic for Planned Parenthood with state funds and he appointed pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage judges to the court. So in terms of who's likely to change Washington I would say that his track record has not only not changed but is in the opposite direction."
Both Rick Santorum's and Ron Paul's questions on Romney dealt at directly with the Massachusetts health care law.
The moderators linked Santorum's ultimate question - whether he would "lead the charge against Obamacare" - with Romney by saying that the Massachusetts plan formed a model for the national program; a seemingly tangential preamble.
"I wouldn't be in this race if it wasn't for Obamacare," Santorum said. "Obamacare makes every single American dependent on the federal government for health, for life… You have my assurance that we will repeal Obamacare."
And Paul's question was preface with an explanation about the seat permanently held by Planned Parenthood on the Massachusetts plan's payment policy advisory board.
"Would you use your appointment power as president to assure that pro-life advocates are represented in the federal government?" he was asked.
Paul said he would "absolutely" appoint such advocates if they were pro-liberty and believe in non-violence, which he said were the qualifying factors for being pro-life. But, he said, such a distinction would be unnecessary because there would be no advisory board similar to that in Massachusetts.
"This wouldn't be a problem because they're not going to get any money, we shouldn't even have one," Paul said.
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When I was a lot younger, I believed in the right to choose. Then when it got personal and I was forced to make a decision I choose to carry my child to term. It was a decision that I had to make myself. Because I changed my mind on the subject of abortion does that mean that I am a flip-flopper? Life is not set in stone. It is fluid and people are constantly changing and evolving. What is right at one time is not right in another. That is why I don't understand why all the comments about Romney and anybody else for that matter who have changes their mind about such important matters.
Barbara - What you are missing here is that you had the right to choose and that's how it should be
Girl, Some on the ultra left probably would put you down, I'm surprised that there are not some here doing just that, I'm glad there aren't, because you took responsibility for yourself as is your right and nobody has a right to complain about that. You GO Girl!!!
As far as using a very personal decision to justify a political candidates flip to the opposite viewpoint just before he runs for president? Doesn't pass the smell test.
In any court of law such a flip would be severely questioned, and any person making it would have to defend his new found position and the reasoning behind it in MINUTE detail.
After years of being Pro-Abortion in a liberal state, doing everything he could do to support abortion at the state level, including codifying abortion into black letter law, Now, all of a sudden he's Pro-Life?
Also doesn't pass the smell test and deserves to be picked apart until he can defend it with truth and conviction which I suspect will never happen.
It is more telling that he has deliberately missed anything having to do with pro-life events on his schedule where such picking apart would occur..
But what no one is catching is this-It is my right to choose and the government has no right to tell me what I can or cannot do with my body. Now that being said, it is then a moot point what ever a politician decides is right or not. Unless they try to force their will on me. Like Santorum or Perry want to impose their views on me or Obamacare being forced down my throat. And if my daughter came to me and I forced her to get an abortion and she didn't want one or if she were pregnant by force, and I forced her to carry the child to term, that would make me just as autocratic as those who want to impose their will on me-and just as despicable.
Ahhh. The TEA-Republican way! All about control of someone else....
Fact: YOU CAN NOT LEGISLATE MORALITY. Plain and simple.
Barbara,
Well said. It always amazes me that this is the same party that claims to be about "Constiutionally Limited Government". So let me get this straight...
Corporations are people with rights.
Fertilized eggs are people with rights.
But women, gays, Mexicans, and Muslims... well it's okay to trod all over their rights.
Sister, In my church, nobody dares to tell parishoners how to vote. That is up to the individual. I suppose you are voting for the party that is cutting programs for the poor and giving even more money back to the rich. You are going to vote for the party that says that not every working person and not every child deserves health care. What would Jesus say?
Well Anita, good thing that faith your voting according too has zilch to do with what gets put into our laws. Otherwise, those "good Christian values" would lead to the persecution of anyone who isn't white, male, christian and straight.
Thank my egnostic concept that maybe there's a God, but maybe there isn't... that "majority" means nothing when it comes to civil rights, in fact civil rights are protected from your Christian majority.
Yes, you loving Christians, who call people abominations, whores, pagans, and illegals. You all even call CHILDREN those things. Isn't there something about pharises or "fake Christians" in the that Bible of yours??? You wanna know something funny. I've never heard a Muslim say a bad word about a Christian. I've never heard a gay person call a Christian a name. I've never a Mexican refer to a Christian as less than worthy. Unless of course, they're protecting themselves from an unsolicited, judgmental opinion from a Christian.
"I like your Christ, I do not think I like your Christians." - Ghandi
Maybe those evangelicals that hate abortion have a lot of sexual frustration. Maybe some of them, are looking for ways to blame the woman, because inside, they wish they could explore their natural, normal desires.
Monogamy is rare in the animal world and many experts believe it is unnatural for humans.
If you really care so much about saving every sperm and egg, why not go after masturbation? Billions die with every stroke.
Or, rally rally rally to prevent miscarriages?
Your objections to abortion don't add up, they are not rational. I sincerely doubt that God agrees with you.
Maybe reach beyond your bible, and search your soul.
Or, at a minimum, be a good Christian and show some tolerance for those that feel differently than you do.
Every woman should have the right to decide for herself if she is prepared to bring another human being into this world.
We have that right by law.
Whatever any particular woman decides is right for her has no bearing on what any other woman decides to do.
If you don't tell me what to do about one of the most important decisions any woman can face, then I'll grant you that same right.
It works both ways.
Don't force women to be baby machines...this is not the Arabian Peninsula.
Just wondering if you believe everyone should be required by law to carry automobile insurance, Barbara? Is there a state in the U.S. that does not have mandatory auto insurance laws?
Why should health care be any different? Why should I pay higher premiums to cover the health care costs of those who don't want to be "forced" to be responsible for themselves?
Do you consider all laws that you don't agree with, or that don't directly benefit you, to be imposing on you personally?
In order for human beings to live together in peace and harmony, we all have to be willing to make compromises for the common good.
Mitt is pro abortion i saw him on video.Then 2 weeks later he flips .Watching Mitt i learned something .You just cant trust religious cult members!
you're ignorant, only unintelligent people. do some research and understand mormonism. -- Stupid @!$%#in people making "cult" comments.
Mormonism is based on Masonry. You worship a god known as Elohim, and when you die if you pass judgement by Elohim, Jesus, and Joseph Smith, you are rewarded with a planet to rule and you get a wife. Your children populate the planet and you become a space god.
Far better than getting a pitiful 72 virgins promised by islam, or even more pitiful "paradise" promised by christianity.
Rick Cain,
Yes, and the quality of your planet relates directly to your successes in life.
Good life == great planet
Bad life == sucky planet
Come on Barb! Everyone has a right to change but please be "real" about it. Romney does not show up at these types of events because these people are probably not going to vote for him and he does not want to alienate the Independent Voter whom he is counting on to get elected. He is a serial panderer.....
Personhood? No birth control? Abortion ... no way / no how / no reason / never? My religious beliefs trump a woman's right to decide something about her own body? If a 13 year old girl is gang raped she is not even permitted to be given the morning-after pill? If she is impregnated, she is forced to carry this child for 9 months as a constant reminder of the worst nightmare a person could imagine? If she is infected with an STD, or suffers internal injuries from the attack, she would be denied medical assistance that might save her life in the event that such treatment might imperil the fetus? Really? Is there one parent out there that would support such a premise?
Tired .. agreed 100%. And the saddest part is that these supposed pro-life people are actually serial killers in disguise. They applaud the murder of living, breathing people. The number of doctors and clinic workers murdered is appalling. To the serial killer pro-lifer, rape, kidnapping, theft, murder are excusable as long as you are protecting a fetus. They cannot see the value of humanity, they only see an excuse to justify their serial killer instincts.
There probably were scheduling difficulties: The candidate and his crew could have been busy on the bridge, beginning the course-correction of the S.S. Mittens to a more centrist channel, a truly titanic enterprise. When previously-avowed principles get thrown overboard, they apparently don't get life preservers.
A question for Governor Romney...
If corporations are people, when does a corporation gain personhood?
Does it happen when you start writing your business plan or does it only happen when you get your Tax ID?
And how does Roe v. Wade play into this as well?
Da Noid,
That's one of the best posts ever.
I wouldn't mind if we aborted a few corporations.
All of this is irrelevent. Until legalized bribery is removed from politics your best interests are not part of the equation. If you haven't seen it already check out George Carlin "Who Really Controls America" on YOUTUBE
Ron Paul must have angered the anti-abortion psychos by telling them he would not force the states to do what the fundies want.
Its liberty, deal with it.
Interesting how the less-government Republicans want to tell everyone else how to live their lives. HYPOCRITES!
The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, only beleives in abortion when it involves rape, incest and the life of the mother is at stake; these are choices that were made by others and forced onto a woman.
They do not, however, believe in abortion because "oops", you made an error in judgement, or to use as birth-control. And yes, before any of you decide to make a smart a$$ remark; I am a "cult" member by CHOICE! And I do whole-hearted believe in the Church; it is where I found the answers to my questions that I had been researching for since I was 11 years old and the Nuns and Priest were tired of me asking!
So Mitt Romney was not flip flopping! Do not forget, that Gov., Senator, Congressmen/women & Presidents, have everyone to take into consideration to do their job right!Not just those who's belief systems are like or similar to theirs! Because if that were the case, then Senator Reid (Democrat from Nevada & Mormon) and Mitt Romney (former Gov. of Mass. & Mormon) would see practically eye to eye! SOO Not the case!