Washington, D.C. – Members of NARAL Pro-Choice America today joined with Americans United for Change and Planned Parenthood in greeting anti-choice former Gov. Mitt Romney outside a hotel where his campaign held a fundraising breakfast.
The event came one day after a senior adviser for Romney’s campaign said that there would be an opportunity to reset the debate if Romney secures the GOP presidential nomination.
“Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign,” Eric Fehrnstrom said. “Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch-a-Sketch – you can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.”
Erika West, deputy political director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said her organization would not allow Romney to “shake up” his anti-choice record.
“When it comes to choice, Gov. Romney can shake that Etch-a-Sketch all he wants, but his anti-choice record and rhetoric will not disappear,” West said. “Romney vetoed a bill giving rape survivors information about and timely access to emergency contraception. Romney said he would ‘get rid of Planned Parenthood’ and eliminate our country’s family-planning program. Romney endorsed a constitutional ban on abortion, a concept similar to a ‘personhood’ measure that Mississippi voters rejected by a wide margin last November. Does he not think Americans have been paying attention to his extreme actions and words?”
West also said her organization would continue to remind voters of how much power the president wields over reproductive rights, and why the public cannot trust Romney.
“The occupant of the White House wields more power over reproductive rights than any other person,” West said. “The U.S. Constitution and American tradition give the president a wide variety of means to influence the laws and policies that govern freedom of choice. Depending on the person who occupies the office, that unique authority can be used either to protect or to take away our rights. Romney has pledged that taking away women’s rights will be a priority for him.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America’s website includes a summary of Romney’s anti-choice actions and rhetoric.
NARAL Pro-Choice
America also produced Powers of the President: Reproductive Freedom and
Choice, which outlines how the office of the president
influences policies related to women’s medical freedom and privacy.