Mitt Romney Addresses Gay Marriage And Abortion Flip-Flops

During Thursday night's GOP presidential debate, moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News questioned former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on his history of flip-flops. Citing position switches on issues such as gay rights and abortion, Wallace asked Romney if they were a matter of "principle or politics."

Romney cast his history on gay rights thusly: he said he was "firmly in support" of protecting the LGBT community from discrimination, but he was never in favor of same-sex marriage. On the matter of abortion, he said he simply changed his mind on the matter, and that "every decision [he] made as governor was on the side of life."

Wallace persisted, pointing out a letter he sent to the Log Cabin Republicans, in which he wrote, "I am more convinced than ever before that as we seek to establish full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." Romney's opponent, of course, was Ted Kennedy. Romney insisted during the debate that the issue at hand had been discrimination, and that in the letter, he had made the case that he was more capable at protecting the LGBT community from it than Kennedy.

In the letter, he never mentions gay marriage directly. However, he did write this: "I believe that the Clinton compromise [Don't Ask Don't Tell] was a step in the right direction. I am also convinced that it is the first of a number of steps that will ultimately lead gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military. That goal will only be reached when preventing discrimination against gays and lesbians is a mainstream concern, which is a goal we share."

So Romney, to this day, is suggesting that "preventing discrimination against gays and lesbians is a mainstream concern" with a full throat. But on "Don't Ask Don't Tell," Romney has not been speaking clearly. At a CNN debate, he told John King that "the answer is that Don't Ask Don't Tell should have been kept in place until conflict was over."

He also wasn't nearly as full-throated when the New Hampshire Union Leader gave him the opportunity to condemn the booing of a gay soldier that occured at a previous debate:

ROMNEY: I don’t recall whether this soldier, whether people were booing his question or just booing…

UNION LEADER: They booed as soon as he identified as a gay person.

ROMNEY: You have to look at that. I don’t know when they booed and I don’t know why they booed. But I will tell you, that the boos and applause hasn’t always coincided with my own views, but I haven’t stepped in to try and say, ‘this one is right, this one is wrong.’ Instead, I focus on the things I think I will say.

UNION LEADER: I ask because Herman Cain over the weekend was asked about it and he said in effect that he should have criticized whoever was booing in the audience.

ROMNEY: That’s…I understand his thoughts.

Comments

[impartwisdom]

02:08 AM on 05/14/2012

HA! I love genealogy. I was born and bred Mormon (since left the church), and I know full well that the original Mormon families intermingled quite a bit in the early days. Suffice to say that Mitt is my 9th cousin, once removed. What I'd like to ask my dear old cousin "Mr. Marriage hasn't changed in 3000 years," is to explain how your grandfather Mr. Helaman Pratt, son of the famous Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt, had five wives? Hmm? You say you're a Mormon but deny the history of your very church? I think your closet is getting a little full of "beach sandals"....

[dodiddle]

08:27 AM on 05/06/2012

Someone posted a comment that birth control pills were the same as abortion because they aborted the fetus. Birth control pills do not abort a fetus.. They trick the womans body into not producing eggs, hence no ovulation and no pregnancy. a sperm by itself is not a person, neither is an egg by itself. once one of each come together, the result is a person. That person is growing as she or he will do until adult if not aborted or killed in some other way. Contraception is in no way abortion. Contraception means no conception.

[Americanwoman55]

09:30 PM on 12/25/2011

I'm over Romney.

[Steelsil]

03:01 AM on 12/19/2011

Has he changed his mind on m@gic underwear?

[maxwells]

02:35 PM on 12/17/2011

I was once married to a med student. So, 30 years ago, I attended a meeting of her non-credit sexology class.

There, one med student raised his hand to say he and his colleague worked with a female gorilla as summer interns at a lab and, despite all ethical rules, had artificial­ly inseminate­d her with human sperm (don't know how he managed to stay in school after that admission)­.

But anyway, the poor creature got pregnant. And after six weeks, they aborted her foetus.

So, here's the question:

Many religious figures oppose abortion, saying that humans have souls that enter embryos at the moment of conception­. They're also quite clear that animals lack souls.

So, what about the gorilla's foetus? Did it have a soul?

Maybe not. But suppose it was female, had gone to term half human/half gorilla and had been fertile and inseminate­d with human sperm, and the process re--iterat­ed N times. Would there be a gorilla dilution point where a human soul would enter the resulting embryo?

Maybe not.

But what about all these recent DNA studies showing that Europeans carry 1 - 4% Neandertal DNA, or that New Guineans, and other Melanasian­s carry 2 - 6% DNA from various other proto-huma­ns such as Denisovans and Homo Erectus?

Do these people have souls?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110905160918.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110718085329.htm

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/333652/title/Beneficial_liaisons

I'm just askin'.

[Yukio Mishima]

08:50 PM on 12/17/2011

There are MANY people who oppose abortion on grounds other than religious ones.

[maxwells]

11:07 AM on 12/18/2011

Sure, sure. But that doesn't answer my question. Do you care to answer it?

BTW, I understand that your namesake, claiming to have completed his life's work, at 45, committed ritual seppuku (suicide) by disemboweling himself, then having his "disciples" cut his head off.

The Japanese notion of justice is rather odd, as I'd also heard that his disciples were sentenced by a judge to serve a year in a zen monastery, maybe Ryutakuji.

[SKamath]

07:06 PM on 12/19/2011

"There, one med student raised his hand to say he and his colleague worked with a female gorilla as summer interns at a lab and, despite all ethical rules, had artificial­­ly inseminate­­d her with human sperm (don't know how he managed to stay in school after that admission)­­.

But anyway, the poor creature got pregnant. And after six weeks, they aborted her foetus."

You know that such kind of breeding has never been scientifically verified, right?

[maxwells]

08:27 PM on 12/19/2011

rotfl. I hope not. But that's what he said.

[thecannula]

04:46 PM on 12/16/2011

Mitt was a GOP Gov. in a Dem. State with a 85% Dem. Legislature- Any Questions?

With 4 yrs and no chance of Reelection- Obama will go Left.

With 4 yrs and Another Election Ahead of Him- Mitt will stay Centered.

Any Questions?

Most Americans can be found in the Center.

[Yukio Mishima]

10:38 AM on 12/17/2011

Gallup shows that Conservatives outnumber Liberals by slightly over 2 to 1, or 20% to 41%, leaving 39% independent, undecided or simply not caring. So it would be a close call to say whether "most" Americans are in the center or Conservative.

[thecannula]

10:59 AM on 12/17/2011

It depends where you draw the line- there's a huge distance between William Weld and Mark Levin- both would tell Gallup they are conservative.

[Steelsil]

03:03 AM on 12/19/2011

And all of the children in Lake Woebegone are above average.  I don't expect you to get the joke.

[ashley22]

04:32 PM on 12/16/2011

The Republicans can lie all they want,but they will never have a candidate that is as good as our
president.A Republican by the name of George W Bush made the mess America is in now and
no president could fix it in 100 years.

[thecannula]

04:50 PM on 12/16/2011

A community organizer who Never created a job in his life will not find a way to employ America in 200 years- how many GM workers did he lay off when he had our country buy a controlling share of GM? That worked- So he's poised to criticize Romney for the same.

[tj101]

09:07 PM on 12/16/2011

"how many GM workers did he lay off?"

You tell us, Einstein, it's the only way you'll have a point.

[walkerhds]

12:14 AM on 12/17/2011

never created a job? proof please. Jamie Dimon is hardly a job-creator, think he is about 20,000 to the negative at the moment.

[FancyAmerican]

02:03 PM on 12/16/2011

Democrats and Republicans.
Two choices.
Results are always the same.
Our system doesn't allow for more than one party, and until we fix that, we'll have the same problems for a very long time.

Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Bernie Sanders are the only honest politicians in our country. You may not agree with their policies, but they are really the only honest people we have. Three people. Kirsten Gillibrand might be another but her career is still fresh; we'll see if it changes.

People need to stop voting on social issues, the conservative side of those issues are always wrong if you look at history.

Romney comes off as a moderate, but he's too scared of losing again, which is why he continus to "change his mind" and becomes even more conservative than he really is.

[thecannula]

04:54 PM on 12/16/2011

there are 2 2012 presidential candidates mentioning the middle class- the current president keeping them out of work- so many dropped out of the employment eligible roles last month that the unemployment rate actually went down despite an inadequate number of jobs craeted given population growth- AND the future president who is the most moderate of the republican debaters- who will seek the center, as he did in Massachusetts...MOST OF US ARE IN THE CENTER!

[FancyAmerican]

07:39 PM on 12/16/2011

Obama isn't "keeping them out of work." That's an extremely ignorant statement that reflects on your lack of understanding of how things work in this country.

Republicans haven't put any bills on the table to improve the job market, and cutting taxes leads to job cuts.

Most of us are in the center, you're right; but Obama is a centrist; he's no socialist. Romney doesn't know what he stands for because he's trying to cater to extremists to win.

[Yukio Mishima]

10:43 AM on 12/17/2011

Liberals and Conservatives have something in common: They both want the government out of our private lives. However, the idea of what is "private" differs.

Conservatives today emphasize the economic realm, and Liberals say that the government should get involved in our private economic lives. The Founders did not see it that way; the government was not set up to provide for the people as it is today.

Liberals tend to want the government to stay out of their lifestyles. The Founders knew that our country needed virtuous people to keep our republic, but we have drifted to a society of "self-fulfillment" and narcissism, fueled by Leftist movements of self-actualization and a focus on one's personal happiness instead of seeking happiness through responsibilities and duties.

[FancyAmerican]

12:51 PM on 12/17/2011

Conservatives don't want government out of our private lives. You obviously do not know what you're talking about.

Conservatives are practically in favor of a theocracy, which is NOT what the Founders wanted.

Do some research. There's no "Leftist" movement but one pushing us further and further to the Right.

[SKamath]

07:09 PM on 12/19/2011

Unh uh. Conservatives do not in general. Liberals do, but not as universally as one might generalize them to be.

Most conservatives today are socially conservative, and leaning towards religiously conservative.

[ashley22]

02:03 PM on 12/16/2011

The Republicans have no candidate better than the president we already have.Obama is a good
father and faithful husband,he is very smart and has make peace with some Country's that Bush
made America the most hated Country on earlh.Who want some fake Christian for president
when we already have the best.

[rdk70816]

01:02 PM on 12/16/2011

Romney has never been in favor of gay marriage. I think the reporter on this issue needs to amend the article.

[kimhoulian]

12:40 PM on 12/16/2011

at some point people will have to admit that willard mitt romney is not a flip flopper...he is a Pathological Liar .

[bayguy13]

12:31 PM on 12/16/2011

I wonder if there is any issue that the Mitt hasn't flip-flopped on, except for maybe the fact that his wife is probably a women.

[hatrickpenry]

12:29 PM on 12/16/2011

From the shaded part in article:

"UNION LEADER: They booed as soon as he identified as a gay person."

That's an outright lie.

[FancyAmerican]

02:04 PM on 12/16/2011

Watch the video.

[hatrickpenry]

08:01 PM on 12/16/2011

I have, many times, stopped the frames and cranked the volume.
When he introduces, and identifies himself as being gay, there is absolutely no audible difference in the audience.
It isn't until he speaks about POLICY a few moments later that 3-4 'boos' can be heard.
You may just want to LISTEN to the video yourself.

[hatrickpenry]

08:10 PM on 12/16/2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HGo-B39Fhw

an unedited version and there are many more on the same YouTube page

[Kurt Dowdle]

12:28 PM on 12/16/2011

I'm a flip-flopper. I admit it. I have gone into discussions armed with what I thought were all the facts. Turns out there were more facts. I flip-flopped—gladly.

I have also had discussions with someone who is so set in an opinion that all opposing facts are useless. They stare at the sun and claim it doesn't exist rather than change their stance.

Flip-flopping isn't necessarily a character flaw. As long as candidate is consistently looking to do the right thing for the right reason, give me a flip-flopper any time.

[Steelsil]

03:06 AM on 12/19/2011

And weather vanes demonstrate moral backbone.  Not.

[mw21]

12:23 PM on 12/16/2011

In a perfect world none of us would care about someone else's marriage, whether same sex or opposite sex. But it's not perfect and people care. I just can't understand the obsessive desire to get into anyone's bedroom, regadless of their sexual preferences, and regulate their sexual activities. Let it go!