Mitt Romney and Mormonism and Abortion (Peter Fenn)

OK, I have had enough. Mitt Romney is just too much. At the CNN YouTube debate he answered the question of his so-called “switch” on abortion.

Here is some of what he said: “I was wrong. I was effectively pro-choice when I ran for office … I changed my mind as governor.” He talked about “a mistake.”

This is complete nonsense. This has all been totally and crassly calculated from the first day he announced against Edward Kennedy (D) for the U.S. Senate and when he sought out and received a pro-choice Republicans group’s endorsement in the 2002 governor’s race. The same group that, by the way, is running very tough ads against him in Iowa and New Hampshire.

His rhetoric and his issue positions were without nuance: “I support a woman’s right to choose in this country” … “I will sustain and support Roe v. Wade” … “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose.” You can watch a wonderful collection of clips on YouTube. About 10 years’ worth.

He supported state funding for abortions. He was unequivocal … until he started running for president. Or was he?

Here is one fact that few have discussed: Mitt Romney is a sincere and serious member of a church, the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons, who have a very strict and very consistent policy on abortion: It should be legal in this country only in the cases of life of the mother, rape and incest. That is it. They do not support Roe v. Wade, they are absolutely opposed to funding; opposition to abortion is a basic tenet of the LDS Church.

Mormonism is key to Mitt Romney — his great-great-grandfather, Miles Romney, became a leader in the church in 1837. Mitt Romney went on a two-year mission for the church to France, and spent 12 years in top leadership in the church, 1982 to 1985 as a bishop, equivalent to a lay pastor. For nine years he was a stake president, overseeing dozens of parishes. To his credit, he has been very active in his church and tithed 10 percent of his yearly income, a considerable sum in his case. All five sons attended LDS-run Brigham Young University in Utah.

My simple point is this: Mitt Romney is not just a casual churchgoer but a true believer in the doctrine of his church. I cannot fathom for one moment that his entire embracing of a woman’s right to choose when he ran for office was anything other than a total fraud, a total rejection of his teachings and beliefs.

He never “changed his mind,” was “wrong” or “made a mistake” — he was just trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Massachusetts. And the same was true for being “more pro-gay rights than Ted Kennedy.” Also a complete fraud.

Mitt Romney was not true to his beliefs and his church when he ran for office in 1994 or 2002. My guess is that Mormons in Massachusetts and elsewhere know precisely where Romney stood … and that he precipitated this fraud with a wink and a prayer.

So when we listen to Romney as the man who looked into his conscience and changed his views, we should think Elmer Gantry.

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