Romney: Gutless on Abortion.

During his Meet The Press interview, Mitt Romney basically repudiated his own mother. She was a longtime champion of reproductive freedom whose views he once endorsed. Romney now claims he had a changing experience on the issue of stem-cell research that leads him to assign rights to human life from the moment of conception. Tim Russert did not, if I recall right, ask Romney flat out if his mother was wrong all along, and it would have been interesting to hear the former governor answer that one. In any event, I found Romney's story unconvincing and his current stand gutless.

He recently promised to stand by the Republican platform of 2004, which endorses a Human Life Amendment, i.e. a national ban on abortion. He told Russert today that he will not advocate such an amendment, but will concentrate on getting Roe v. Wade overturned by the Supreme Court. Worse, he takes the typically gutless position of nearly all "pro-lifers" on what to do after Roe goes down. When Russert asked if he would approve of criminal penalties against mothers seeking abortions, Romney instantly rejected the idea.

I frankly fail to understand Republican reticence on this point. They all want to punish doctors as if there were wicked gynecologists on street corners soliciting for work from pregnant mothers. They act as if women were conned or coerced into getting abortions, when in most cases it's the mother's idea, in some cases against the will of every other interested party. If you're going to treat abortion as a crime, it seems like the sort of offense that must be combated on the demand side. After all, take away the doctors and there are still wire hangers. If you want to prevent abortions, you should want to deter women from seeking or attempting them. What would make a good deterrent? Prison? Forced sterilization, or on the other hand, forced impregnation? And if you really believe that abortion is murder, then shouldn't the mother be put to death, or sentenced to life without parole? Refusing to consider such necessary measures shows a lack of seriousness on the part of our would-be leaders. Romney's refusal to do so should reinforce Republican skepticism about his conversion, but all Republicans should have to explain themselves on this important matter. If you're not willing to kill women, how committed to life are you???