Mitt Romney Defends Pro-Life Stance in New Ad, Responds to Huckabee 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 31, 2007
Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) — Mitt Romney is defending the sincerity of his pro-life stance on abortion in a new ad airing in front of Iowa Republican voters. He is also responding to recent attacks on his abortion position by Mike Huckabee, who has said he is more consistently pro-life than Romney because he never changed his position.
Romney was pro-abortion for most of his political career and says he converted to the pro-life position as governor when he confronted the issue of embryonic stem cell research.
The new ad features Romney speaking to the camera with an American flag in the background.
The television commercial touches on other political topics, but Romney says that "Together we can defend life and preserve the values that make America the hope of the earth."
Meanwhile, the Romney campaign sent LifeNews.com a statement responding to Huckabee’s comments over the weekend and in a television interview. The campaign said the statement’s goal is to "correct Governor Mike Huckabee’s misstatements" and "reiterating his support for our pro-life platform."
"Just days before the people of Iowa begin the process of selecting the Republican nominee, I want to reiterate my commitment to our party’s pro-life values," Romney said.
"I am proud to be firmly pro-life. As Governor, every decision I made came down on the side of life and I will be a pro-life President," the former Massachusetts governor added. "I am proud of my record of defending life."
The comments come after Huckabee criticized Romney on a campaign ad that ran last week questioning the former Arkansas governor on various political issues. Huckabee used abortion as a means of counterattacking Romney’s claims Huckabee isn’t conservative enough.
“You are not going to find moments on YouTube of me saying something different about the sanctity of life today than I said ten years ago, ten minutes ago, or fifty years ago,” Huckabee said.
"I know that Mr. Romney has said that he’s pro-life, but that’s a new position for him," Huckabee added, according to an NBC report. "Just before he left office he signed a health care bill that provides an elective abortion for a fifty dollar co-pay. When he tells you he only signed pro-life legislation, ask him about that."
He continued: “We must stand clear and firm that human life has value and meaning and is precious to us.”
