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Romney Attended Planned Parenthood Fundraiser in 1994
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ShareDecember 18, 2007 11:04 AM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Mitt Romney attended a fund-raising reception for Planned Parenthood in 1994 in conjunction with a $150 donation his wife made to the organization -- notwithstanding Romney's contention that he had "no recollection" of the circumstances under which his wife gave money to the abortion-rights group.
In the photograph obtained by ABC News, Romney and his wife, Ann, are shown in a yellow-and-white tent chatting with local political activists, including Nicki Nichols Gamble, who was then president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
Nichols Gamble -- whose back is the camera in the photograph -- told ABC that the event was a Planned Parenthood fundraising "house party" in Cohasset, Mass., in June 1994. At the time, Romney, R-Mass., was locked in a tight Senate campaign with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and was touting his support for abortion rights.
That event, Nichols Gamble said, was the occasion where Ann Romney wrote her $150 check -- drafted on a joint checking account she had with her husband -- to Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts.
"They were both there, and I remember very well chatting with both of them, and talking about his support for the pro-choice agenda," she said. "We talked about the fact that he was taking a pro-choice position on the issues, and we were very pleased about that."
When asked by reporters earlier this year whether the former governor had ever donated money to Planned Parenthood, the Romney campaign said no. Aides subsequently conceded that Romney's wife, Ann, wrote a $150 check to the group in 1994.
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told ABC in May 2007 that Romney had "no recollection" of the circumstances under which the check was written, and stressed the fact that the donation was made by Ann Romney.
"The governor has not donated to Planned Parenthood or abortion-rights groups," Madden said in May.
Madden on Tuesday maintained that neither of the Romneys recalls how and why Ann made her donation in 1994.
"As Mrs. Romney has stated previously, she is unfamiliar with the circumstances of a check she wrote close to 14 years ago," Madden said.
"During his campaign for U.S. Senate in 1994, it would not have been out of the ordinary for the governor to have attended an event, out of the hundreds that any candidate would attend during a campaign season, which involved a voter coalition and also have his wife accompanying him," he added.
He also noted that both Romneys were on the record as supporting abortion rights in 1994.
"Like Ronald Reagan before him, the governor has changed his position on this issue and changed it in the right way," Madden said. "Governor Romney does not regret, and won't apologize for the fact, that he has become pro-life."
Nichols Gamble said she"s surprised Romney has no memory of the fund-raising event.
"I can understand that he might not remember the check -- it's surprising to me that he would not remember the event," she said. "His main motivation for being there was a political motivation."
Abortion rights emerged as a major issue in Romney's 1994 battle with Kennedy, with Kennedy warning that Romney would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade and pose obstacles to women's access to abortions.
"My opponent is multiple choice," Kennedy said in one famous debate exchange.
Romney responded by saying that while he personally opposed abortion, he supported abortion rights -- a position he has subsequently referred to as "effectively pro-choice."
"I have my own beliefs, and those beliefs are very dear to me, and one of them is that I do not impose those beliefs on other people," Romney said. "You will not see me wavering on that, or be a ‘multiple choice.' "
Romney changed his position on abortion in late 2004, amid a raging debate in his home state over stem-cell research, and he now describes himself as "pro-life."
The issue of donations to Planned Parenthood roiled the Republican presidential field this spring, with revelations that former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gave six separate donations to Planned Parenthood during the 1990s.
UPDATE: Romney on Tuesday told ABC's John Berman that he does not recall attending the fundraiser.
"I attend a lot of events when I run for office. I don't recall the specific event -- not a terribly surprising feature," Romney said in Columbia, S.C. "As you may recall, I think I've made it very clear, I was pro-choice or effectively pro-choice when I ran in 1994. As governor I'm pro-life and have a record of being pro-life and am firmly pro-life today."
For more political news, check out ABC News' Rick Klein's THE NOTE.
December 18, 2007 in Palin, Sarah, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (95)
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ABC would rather smear GOP candidates than hold Democratics candidates to their actions; where are the questions about the Henry Shu/Hillary Clinton fund raising connections?
Posted by: | Dec 18, 2007 12:32:27 PM
If you look hard enough, you can find Waldo in the photo.
Posted by: Jeremy | Dec 18, 2007 12:34:44 PM
1.) He lied and said he didn't attend.
2.) Even if his wife wrote the check, when you marry two become one!
Posted by: Clint | Dec 18, 2007 12:35:52 PM
I was using drugs 14 years ago, yet now I am anti-drug. I must be such a disgrace to have changed my view.
Posted by: jeremy | Dec 18, 2007 12:36:32 PM
ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!?!?!?!? what a piece of work this guy is!!!! mormon AND supports KILLING BABIES.....that's it people we've found the right president......FOR THE END OF THE WORLD!!!
Posted by: LAUREN | Dec 18, 2007 12:37:44 PM
So the hell what? He's already said he's changed his mind on the issue.
How about the Clintons raising money from China and giving them tons of dual use technology? That's even more recent.
Posted by: squeenter squillo | Dec 18, 2007 12:38:16 PM
every single candidate running for the white house are liars..they all flip flop when its politically convenient..only one candidate has stood the test of politics, and that one is ron paul..the hell with these other candidates....u wanna talk about a hit job, how can someone raise over six million dollars in one day and barely get any news coverage...all of these news organizations are corrupt..and last time i checked we were the united states of america not a fortune 500 company, unlike a corporation we have to take other things into consideration not just the bottom line
Posted by: charlie | Dec 18, 2007 12:43:40 PM
He is a liar. This is why the GOP base feels that it doesn't even HAVE a candidate.
Posted by: ListenUpPeople | Dec 18, 2007 12:52:58 PM
Governor???Thank you. CAn you please get out of this race?
Posted by: Julio | Dec 18, 2007 1:00:48 PM
What a phony bologna, Mitt Romney is turning out to be, this guy is a joke.
Posted by: John | Dec 18, 2007 1:07:33 PM
"He vetoed every pro-abortion item on his desk"....
Really?...
WHAT ABOUT THE $50 ABORTIONS IN HIS HEALTH PLAN!!!
So now the pro life citizens of MASS are forced to subsidize abortions..and that's perfectly OK with you pro life Mittwits?
Posted by: rhino | Dec 18, 2007 1:09:32 PM
This would have been news...in 1994. Happy New Year Everyone 2008!
Posted by: Michael | Dec 18, 2007 1:21:55 PM
Romney has too many skeletons in his closet, too much political baggage and a checkered past.
This new revelation is just par for the course for Romney. That's why he remains at the bottom of the polls. He really is wasting his time and his cash, he can't win.
Posted by: Robert | Dec 18, 2007 1:22:57 PM
MOVE ON. This is not news ABC. Romney has explained his views NUMEROUS times and still this crap comes out. Liberal media is amazing. Try as you may to smear Romney's track record and his success in politics and in life. This country needs him to be our next president.
Posted by: Lee | Dec 18, 2007 1:43:13 PM
Rudy looks better and better every day
Posted by: George Albert | Dec 18, 2007 1:44:16 PM
"Rules of hypocrisy only apply to republicans and never to democrats."
Ha! That's one of the funniest things I've heard in a while.
Posted by: pjsauter | Dec 18, 2007 1:45:42 PM
More proof that politician will say anything to anybody to get a vote.
The recollection of the conversation by the Pro-death guy is going to hurt ole Mitt.
But then, as Kerry proved, what makes folks think we are going to elect a Massachusetts politician to the presidency. You have to question the sanity of folks who keep sending Ed Kennedy to Washington.
Posted by: Les | Dec 18, 2007 1:51:59 PM
This news broke 4 months ago...I am beginning to think the media want this guy gone. The media must have ran out of ammo if the best they can do is bring up an old article. I once attended a cooking class, but it does not make me a baker. I am glad that Romney's voting record is pro-life, I only hope that more candidates will learn from his example and admit when they are wrong. Free thought and rational thinking to me is more important than concrete positions. I was pro-choice back then and now I am not. So I can relate to him.
Posted by: NC | Dec 18, 2007 1:56:24 PM
Mitt Romney, a pro-choice candidate in 1994, attended a function of the group Planned Parenthood, but didn't remember doing so 14 years later. But now we have photographic evidence that he did.
With this revelation, my support for Mitt Romney has splipped from 93.2% to 93.1%. Thank you ABC for bringing this to my attention.
Posted by: Jacktar7 | Dec 18, 2007 2:04:03 PM
This report has also raised my support for Mike Huckabee from 21.2% to 21.3%.
Posted by: Jacktar7 | Dec 18, 2007 2:11:52 PM
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