Personhood USA — the group behind attempts to define life as beginning at the moment of conception — will co-host its third forum with GOP presidential candidates at a church in Winter Park, Fla., on Saturday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is not expected to attend.
Thus far, Romney has not made an appearance at any of the group’s forums, adding fuel to the fire that he isn’t truly “pro-life.”
The group has been endorsed by Romney’s opponents — Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, each of whom have signed a pledge in which they promise to “advance state and federal laws and amendments that recognize the unalienable right to life of all human beings as persons at every stage of development” and to “only appoint federal judges and relevant officials who will uphold and enforce state and federal laws recognizing that all human beings at every stage of development are persons with the unalienable right to life.”
Romney has waffled on abortion issues in the past and is often accused of not flip-flopping on the issue as a matter of political convenience. Personhood supporters seized on his failure to appear at the last personhood forum and continue to blast him for declining the group’s most recent invitation.
From a Personhood press release on tomorrow’s forum:
Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Rick Santorum are confirmed to participate in Florida Awake! Congressman Ron Paul regretfully declined, as he is not scheduled to be campaigning in Florida at that time. The event is already sold out, with over 1800 tickets reserved.
Governor Romney, again expressly invited, has again neglected to notify organizers of his willingness or disinclination to participate.
“Following President Obama’s statement celebrating the Roe v. Wade decision – effectively celebrating the deliberate killing of 54 million innocent American citizens – Personhood USA recognizes the urgency of ensuring that we know where our candidates stand,” stated Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA. “We need a president who values life, and will defend the innocent in word and in deed. We certainly don’t need a candidate who cares nothing for the Sanctity of Life, nor one who will join President Obama in celebrating the deaths of millions.”
Though he failed to sign the personhood pledge, Romney did publish his own “pro-life pledge” on his website, in which he espouses his support for the Hyde Amendment (which bans the use of federal funding for abortion) and promises that, as president, he would “support efforts to prohibit federal funding for any organization like Planned Parenthood.”
