Charles Mitchell of Evangelicals for Mitt notes a Los Angeles Times
story reporting that Ronald Reagan became pro-life only in 1975, a
year before his conservative challenge to Gerald Ford in the
Republican primaries. It's a fair point if accurate, but I think
some context is necessary.
Reagan's shift came a mere two years after Roe. Mitt
Romney's came 32 years after the Supreme Court's abortion decision.
Romney certainly had more information available to him earlier
about fetal development, the number of post-Roe abortions,
the percentage of those abortions that are elective, the impact of
legalization, etc. than Reagan did. Maybe Romney's conversion is as
sincere as Reagan's, but the two shifts do differ contextually in
important ways. (Hat tip: Daniel Larison.)
topics:
Abortion, Supreme Court
