Election 2008 | Romney Says He Would Support Abortions if Pregnant Woman's Life in Danger
[Jul 06, 2007]

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Tuesday at a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, said he would support abortions in cases where a pregnant woman's life is in jeopardy, the AP/Rochester Post-Bulletin reports. "If there is a circumstance where the life of the mother is at risk by virtue of proceeding with the pregnancy, then abortion in that case is acceptable," Romney said, adding, "I do not believe it is immoral in that case. I know other people feel differently." Romney would support abortion in cases of rape or incest, according to spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom, the AP/Post-Bulletin reports (AP/Rochester Post-Bulletin, 7/3).

Since Romney first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994, he has acknowledged that his position on abortion has changed from supporting abortion rights to saying that he would prefer to have Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans -- overturned. Romney in 1994 said, "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country," adding, "I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, we should sustain and support it." When he ran for Massachusetts governor in 2002, Romney 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.

Romney in 2004 while studying human embryonic stem cell research said he experienced an awakening that led him to believe "the sanctity of life had been cheapened" by the Roe decision (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/14).