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5. Romney appointed pro-abortion judges

Governor Romney appointed 36 judges but a check of their political affiliation confirms that only 9 of them are Republicans. Two are radical gay activists and 14 are registered Democrats. The remainder are unenrolled. Since Massachusetts Democrats are among the most pro-abortion Democrats in America, we have to assume that the majority of Romney’s judicial appointments are NOT pro-life.

Take for example, Steve Abany, a hard left Democrat and a prominent gay activist involved with the effort to legalized homosexual marriage in Massachusetts. Romney appointed him to the bench in May of 2005, which was, again, well after his pro-life “conversion.” Any bets that he’s pro-life?

Nor can we find any evidence that the Governor tried to recruit judges who respect life. Romney’s defenders claim he had no choice because a entity called the Governor’s Council controls the process and is composed of Democrats, but we’ve found that this council serves mostly as a rubber stamp and is set up purely to ensure judicial nominees are qualified, not to oppose them on ideological grounds. Indeed, there is no evidence that the Governor’s Council has ever blocked any judicial nominees on ideological grounds.

Many of these judicial appointments were made in the last three years, SINCE Romney’s alleged conversion.

The Romney campaign also claims that his judicial selections as governor had nothing to do with abortion and was more about the nominee’s stance on local issues such as crime. However, the Los Angeles Times has revealed that notes taken at a 2002 NARAL endorsement meeting attended by Romney, reveal that he assured its leaders his judicial picks would be more likely to protect abortion rights than those of a Democrat governor!

These notes demonstrate that he did indeed use the abortion issue to inform his judicial selections, but not in the way we would have wanted. Once again, the Romney campaign is not being truthful.

With the next president appointing 1-2 justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and a slew of Federal judges, Romney’s judicial selections should alarm those who care about family values and the sanctity of life. The fact that only five years ago he assured NARAL’s leaders that he would appoint pro-abortion judges should cause every pro-lifer in the country to doubt his sincerity on this issue.

It is also notable that Romney is still listed as a prominent member of the Republican Main Street Partnership which publicly praised Senator John Chafee for his vote against the confirmation of Judge Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. This may be the biggest pro-life achievement of the Bush Administration, but Romney’s group was not happy about it. There is no evidence that Romney opposed this action.

It really doesn’t matter how often Romney announces he will appoint “strict constructionists” to the bench; if he can’t be truthful about the criteria he used to select judges while Governor and didn’t even bother to fill all the judicial vacancies in his own state, how can he be trusted to appoint solid judges while president?
6. Romney’ opinion on the Terry Schiavo case: Let the courts force euthanasia.

On March 10th, Romney was questioned on television about the Terri Schiavo case in which heroic efforts were made by the State and by Congress to save her life. Without his professional handlers by his side to tell him what to say, here what the press reported him as saying:

He’s campaigning hard for support from Republican socialconservatives, but presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday he disagreed with the government’s intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. ‘I think it’s probably best to leave these kinds of matters in the hands of the courts.’

However, this view is consistent with his abortion stance. Forget about the life involved, let the people decide or let the courts decide. Once again, Romney doesn’t seem to understand the moral implications involved here.