FACT CHECK: Romney Would Not Stand Up For Women
While Mitt Romney tonight said that he would be good for American women, we know that’s not true. He wants to take women’s health care decisions out of their hands. He has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception and essential health services like cancer screenings to women across the country. And he fails to stand up for women as we fight for equal pay.
ROMNEY SUPPORTS REPEALING SAFEGUARDS AND CUTTING FUNDING FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH
Romney: “If I’m President, I Will Repeal Obamacare, And I’ll Kill It Dead On Its First Day.” [Romney town hall, Collinsville, IL, 3/17/12]
Los Angeles Times: Romney “Vowed To End Federal Funding Of Planned Parenthood, Which, Along With Other Services, Provides Contraceptives To Those Who Cannot Otherwise Afford Them.” “Addressing contraceptives, Romney said he and other Republicans ‘of course … recognize that people should have a right to use contraceptives. There’s absolutely no validity whatsoever to the Obama effort to try and bring that up.’ Romney has, however, vowed to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood, which, along with other services, provides contraceptives to those who cannot otherwise afford them.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/26/12]
Romney Endorsed The Blunt Amendment Which Would Allow Employers To “Have Free Rein To Pick And Choose Your Medical Care As He Or She Saw Fit--So If The Boss Believed That Birth Control Were An Affront To God And Nature, Well, Too Bad For You.” “And yet, just weeks after Obama announced the compromise, Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) proposed legislation that would allow any employer or insurance company to decline to cover any medical care for any moral or religious reason. Under the law, your boss would have free rein to pick and choose your medical care as he or she saw fit--so if the boss believed that birth control were an affront to God and nature, well, too bad for you; you'd have to shell out the full monthly cost for your pill pack. The Blunt Amendment (which Romney endorsed) was blocked in the Senate with an extremely narrow margin--51 to 48--with Maine's Olympia Snowe (who announced around the same time that she would not be seeking reelection) the only Republican voting against it.” [Gretchen Voss, Women’s Health, September 2012]
2012: The Republican Party Platform “Will Include Language Calling For A Constitutional Amendment Against Abortion, Leaving Out Any Mention Of Exceptions For Cases Of Rape Or Incest.” “The Republican Party's platform will include language calling for a constitutional amendment against abortion, leaving out any mention of exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The draft platform as first obtained by CNN: ‘Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.’ Amid a very brief debate in which several largely technical amendments were considered, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, the chairman of the platform committee, closed discussion on the abortion section after no further amendments were offered.” [Buzzfeed, 8/21/12]
The Republican Party Platform “Was Written At The Direction Of Romney’s Campaign.” “It didn’t take long for strains within the Republican Party to surface Monday as national delegates got down to work on a final draft of the party platform, one week before the nominating convention opens. … There is no doubt about who is in charge, of course. Delegates for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney are voting down substantive changes to the platform language that was written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/20/12]
Romney Said He Would Be “Delighted” To Sign A Bill Banning “All Abortions.” QUESTIONER: “Hello, my name is AJ. I'm from Millstone, New Jersey. I would all of the candidates to give an answer on this. If hypothetically, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and the Congress passed a federal ban on all abortions and it came to your desk, would you sign it? Yes or no?” COOPER: “Governor Romney?” ROMNEY: “I agree with Senator Thompson, which is we should overturn Roe v. Wade and return these issues to the states. I would welcome a circumstance where there was such a consensus in this country that we said, we don't want to have abortion in this country at all, period. That would be wonderful. I'd be delighted.” COOPER: “The question is: Would you sign that bill?” ROMNEY: “Let me say it. I'd be delighted to sign that bill. But that's not where we are. That's not where America is today. Where America is is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and return to the states that authority. But if the Congress got there, we had that kind of consensus in that country, terrific.” [CNN Debate, 11/28/07]
ROMNEY REFUSED TO SUPPORT EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
Headline: “Romney Won't Say Whether He Would Have Signed Lilly Ledbetter Act” [Huffington Post, 4/16/12]
Headline: “Mitt Romney Mum On Paycheck Fairness Bill.” [Huffington Post, 6/4/12]