It's a Simple Question: Will Romney Address Personhood Bill during VA Stop?
It's a Simple Question: Will Romney Address Personhood Bill during VA Stop?
Previously said he "absolutely" supported issue when asked on national TV
RICHMOND, VA - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will campaign in Virginia this morning at a Reston event with Governor Bob McDonnell. And while Mitt Romney is in Virginia, will he address Personhood - what is becoming a very real issue in the Commonwealth?
In Virginia, the Personhood Amendment, proposed legislation that would define "personhood" at conception and could in turn outlaw all abortions and some forms of FDA-approved birth control, has a good chance of passing through a right-wing legislature and landing on McDonnell's desk. The bill is Bob Marshall's House Bill 1, and might be moving TODAY.
The question is - what does Mitt Romney think of Personhood becoming law in Virginia?
"As the General Assembly considers an attempt to further limit a woman's right to make her own health care decisions, Virginians deserve to know where Mitt Romney and Bob McDonnell stand on this pivotal issue," said DPVA Chairman Brian Moran. "Romney didn't hesitate before hypocritically attacking the President for expanding women's access to contraception, he should bring that same candor to the issue of 'personhood' legislation here and nationwide. The fact is, Romney replied 'absolutely' when asked last year point blank on FOX News if he would hypothetically support a Personhood Amendment - does he still believe the same now when campaigning in a state where it is a real issue?"
When Romney was running for Massachusetts Governor, he told women he'd protect their right to choose. Shockingly he's since changed that position and now says that he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade - and has spoken favorably about the generic concept of 'personhood' amendments that would ban the right for women and their families to make decisions about their reproductive health and could even ban some forms of contraception.
Bob Marshall's opponent for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, George Allen, has actually taken the Marshall position a step further by calling for legislation at the federal level to define personhood as beginning at contraception, but he too has yet to speak directly to Marshall's personhood legislation.
Alexandria Delegate and Chair of the Virginia Reproductive Rights Caucus Charniele Herring continued, "It's regrettable that Virginians even have to wonder where Mitt Romney, Bob McDonnell and George Allen stand on a proposal to rob women of the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, but given each of their records they do. As they campaign across Virginia they should give the people of this Commonwealth the respect they deserve and tell them whether or not we can trust them to oppose these reckless and unnecessary attacks on women's health."
