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PDF versionAnother Bum Rap for Romney
by Michael Sean Winters on Feb. 16, 2012
I am no fan of Gov. Romney, but at a press conference yesterday on Capitol Hill, congressional Republicans at which they announced their continued opposition to teh President's "accommodation" on HHS mandates, a reporter asked about whether or not the congressional Republicans were similarly displeased by Gov. Romney's record in Massachusetts where, it was asserted, he did the same thing.
Actually Romney did something worse, approving a health care law that explicitly provided for taxpayer abortion and, contra those who think Mr. Romney's conversion from pro-choice to pro-life provides him cover on the issue, the Romney health care law was enacted after his conversion.
But, the issue of mandates regarding Catholic health care was different, and here is where he gets a bum rap. Romney originally vetoed a bill that required Catholic hospitals to dispense emergency Plan B in the case of rape. Six months later he signed the same bill into law. But, whether or not Catholic hospitals dispense emergency contraception is different from an employer mandate about what is covered by a hospital's insurance plans for its employees. And, in the event, the Church agreed to dispense emergency contraception in the case of rape, provided no pregnancy test was done first. That way, the intent of the act is to protect the woman who had been raped from the consequences of an assault by someone else and not to induce an abortion.
Michael, this is mostly a
Michael, this is mostly a lie, and no doubt you know this as evidence by your sucker punch of a "defense" of Romney in your headline, but a first sentence including "I'm no fan of Gov. Romney...". The lies begin in paragraph two.
Undoubtedly you know that Gov. Romney's plan in Massachusetts does not include the word abortion in it at any point nor allude to it. Secondly, you know that Gov. Romney's plan calls for private insurance, not public. Thirdly, you know that the Judicial branch in Massachusetts interpreted that their State Constitution forces government sponsered insurance (not private insurance) include tax payer funding for abortion. That you would discount those key facts in your hit piece on Mitt Romney is typical.
You also deliver misinformation in your third paragraph that "Six months later he signed the same bill into law." discounting the fact that his legislature overrode his veto. The fact is, he not only vetoed the law, but also penned an op-ed to explain his veto. Also after the bill passed (by the legislature), Romney continued to fight for the rights of Catholic organizations by directing his Department of Public Health to give them an opt-out based on a previous law citing moral objections. The legislature later informed Mitt Romney that if that continued he would be in violation of his oath of office as the intent of the new law was to replace the old law. He then had to direct the organizations to comply.
"Following is Governor Mitt Romney's message informing the Legislature that he vetoed the emergency contraception bill.
"To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives:
"... To those who believe that life begins at conception, the morning-after pill can destroy the human life that was created at the moment of fertilization.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/07/26/a_let...
"The state Department of Public Health has determined that Catholic and other privately-run hospitals in Massachusetts can opt out of giving the morning-after pill to rape victims because of religious or moral objections, despite a new law that requires all hospitals who treat such victims to provide them with emergency contraception...
"The new law, which was passed overwhelmingly by the Legislature this summer over the objections of Governor Mitt Romney, takes effect next week...
" ''We're very disappointed that the Romney administration is not honoring the intent of the Legislature, who voted overwhelmingly to protect the health of rape victims," said Melissa Kogut, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts...
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2005/12/07/private_ho...
Please forgive Michael. He
Please forgive Michael. He knows not what he says. But he says it with SUCH conviction!
THANK YOU ROSEMARY!!
THANK YOU ROSEMARY!!
CATHOLICS AS RABBITS .......
CATHOLICS AS RABBITS ....... Very clever, MSW. You boost the bishops' candidate, Santorum, by sucker-punching Romney. I am having difficulty following which Republican is advocating the bishops' Rabbit Rule, when they advocated it and where they really stand. It appears to vary depending on the audience.
For more on how we got here, please read the comment, "Catholics Are Not Rabbits", readily accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/what-about-contraception
The question yesterday wasn't
The question yesterday wasn't about emergency contraception, it was about the fact that MA requires private health plans to offer contraception (since 2002) and that the new state-run health plan signed into law by Romney also offered contraceptive coverage, and that Romney never once complained about either provision. So yesterday's question highlighted Romney's hypocrisy on this issue - what was commonplace in his own state-run insurance plan and private plans operating in his state is now suddenly a great moral outrage and unacceptable.
And in a wonderful irony - there is a religious exemption in the MA law, but the position taken by the politicians yesterday (and the bishops) is that there should be no mandate, period. So, if all these fine people had simply demanded a religious exemption and nothing more, Romney's position would be perfectly consistent. But in demanding no mandate whatsoever, Romeny is now contradicting his own tenure as governor. So when you think about it, it's the Catholic bishops and their right-wing political allies who have helped turn Romney into the craven hypocrite he is today.
Mike saying "I am no fan of
Mike saying "I am no fan of Gov. Romney" is like Dolan claiming "I am no Obama-hater!"
YET ANOTHER BUM RAP FOR
YET ANOTHER BUM RAP FOR ROMNEY!
People just so misunderstood him when he said he doesn't worry about the poor:
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/02/16/lee-jeffries/#1
To deliberately not seek a
To deliberately not seek a pregnancy test is vincible ignorance and it is immoral. Of course, if a pregnancy test were positive, Plan B would not work anyway. Pregnancy happens after implantation and the test does not work until it happens, but the principle is shoking to the conscience.
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