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Obama Campaign continues to distort Gov. Romney’s position on abortion; NRLC explains how and why

Oct 19, 2012

By Dave Andrusko

Pro-Life Mitt Romney and Pro-Abortion Barack Obama

On Thursday, NRL News Today wrote about an egregiously dishonest ad run by the Obama campaign that carefully parsed an answer given by Mitt Romney to suggest that Gov. Romney would ban all abortions. That is transparently not true.

This is not the first time Obama’s re-election team has distorted Romney’s position, nor will it be the last. Several months ago the independent FactCheck.org wrote the following:

“The Obama campaign is out with another ad making the false claim that Mitt Romney ‘backed a bill that outlaws all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.’ Romney’s consistent position through this campaign, and the last, and as far back as 2005, is that he opposes abortion except in cases when the life of the mother is in danger, and in cases of rape and incest. …The Obama campaign is a repeat offender with this distortion of Romney’s position on abortion.”

But why have so many news outlets allowed this distortion to go without constant and consistent rebuttal? NRL News Today asked NRLC Executive Director David N. O’Steen, Ph.D. to explain. His explanation appears below.

A number of recent “mainstream news media” stories have taken the line that Mitt Romney has now shifted to a “moderate” position on abortion.  Please don’t be fooled and remember that with very, very few exceptions, the media are simply an extension of the Obama campaign.  The goal of this latest media spin is to get pro-lifers to abandon Romney and help the media elect Obama.

Mitt Romney’s position on abortion has been consistent throughout both his 2008 and his 2012 campaign  and he has not changed that position.  He believes Roe vs. Wade should be overturned and he believes abortion should only be allowed in cases to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest.  He is running a television ad to that effect in part to counter the media’s earlier attempt, beginning with the Republican convention, to distort his position and imply that he would seek to ban abortion in cases of rape or incest or perhaps in all cases, including life of mother cases.

The media are quite happy for you to either think that Mitt Romney is too extreme on abortion or is too moderate on abortion, just as long as you don’t support him and help elect Obama.

Of course you will never see the media delving into Obama’s own position and record which includes 1) voting against a bill in Illinois that would have protected babies born alive during an abortion, 2) co-sponsoring a bill that would have made partial birth abortion legal again, and 3) opposing a bill to ban sex-selection abortion–not to mention the abortion promoting elements of Obamacare.

Obama can be defeated and a pro-life administration can be elected IF pro-lifers remain focused, disciplined and ignore whatever the Obama media try to whisper in our ears.

Categories: Politics