Romney Supports a State's Right to Choose

Listening to George Stephanopoulos' interview with Mitt Romney on ABC's This Week, I was struck by the Governor's explanation of his stance on abortion. While he was once pro-choice and now describes himself as pro-life, what he really likes to focus on is the states' right to determine whether they are pro-life or pro-choice. He said that under his policy, Massachusetts would remain a pro-choice state.

"My view is that we should let each state have its own responsibility for guiding its laws relating to abortion.

My preference would be to see the Supreme Court do something which is up to them, not up to me. Even if elected president, I don't guide this. The Supreme Court does.

But I'd like to see the Supreme Court allow states to have greater leeway in defining their own laws."

Describing his position as an assertion of states' rights seems to be an appeal to the conservative base, but the key element of his policy can be summed up in one word: choice. Weird how someone who is trying to position themselves as pro-life is actually emphasizing their belief in choice. In fact, when I heard him describe his position I thought, if I didn't know any better I would think he's arguing for a pro-choice policy.

"I feel a great empathy for women who have difficult decisions in this regard. I don't want to impose my view on the lives of women, and yet this is one of those points where mature men and women have to come together and say, "What's the right course?" And in my particular view, I believe in life, I believe in respecting life, and I believe that we should, as a series of states, allow states to make their own choice in this regard."

If it's okay to devolve the decision on abortion from the federal government to the states, why not let each county decide? And if it's okay for each county to develop their own policy, why not let each municipality decide if they are a pro-choice or pro-life community? Wait...if it's okay for each community to decide why not let each household decide?

It seems to me that in supporting a state's right to choose, Romney has revealed his pro-choice beliefs. I'm not upset with him for this, I just wish he wouldn't try to paint his beliefs in conservative clothing.