Today Personhood USA accused Mitt Romney’s campaign allowing the “death penalty” for “babies conceived in rape.”
We’ve written before about the far-right anti-abortion group’s willingness to bend the truth for attention.
Just this year, the home of Personhood USA’s Keith Mason and his family was vandalized. The organization put out a press release blaming “abortion fanatics,” who had forced the Masons into hiding. But when asked about the incident, a police spokesperson said the ‘person of interest’ in the case had personal—not political—motivations.
The group also has a tradition of extreme policy stances. In late 2011, Patrick Johnson, a spokesperson for the Ohio branch, decried a bill that would outlaw abortion from the moment of discernable heartbeat. He said that such incremental measures “justify some abortions.”
Johnson also said his state has no obligation to follow the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Drafting laws in the hopes that the Court will give them a favorable ruling, he said, was compliance in “judicial tyranny.”
Now, they’ve set their sights on the Romney-Ryan ticket, which released the statement that “a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.”
“Personhood USA does not endorse political candidates, but we had hoped that Congressman Ryan would be a good influence on Governor Romney, considering Romney’s liberal abortion record,” Jennifer Mason, the group’s communication director, said in a statement. “Congressman Ryan’s pro-woman and pro-baby positions would have little influence if he wins the office of Vice President of the United States.”
Romney’s campaign site claims he is “pro-life:”
Mitt believes that life begins at conception and wishes that the laws of our nation reflected that view. But while the nation remains so divided, he believes that the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade – a case of blatant judicial activism that took a decision that should be left to the people and placed it in the hands of unelected judges.
Sounds pretty anti-choice, compared to the stance the former Massachusetts governor used to hold.
But for Personhood USA, giving sexual assault survivors bodily autonomy—or even overturning Roe v. Wade—just isn’t fanatical enough.
