Romney's Planned Parenthood Visit

As if Mitt Romney needed another highly public reminder of his formerly pro-choice position, ABC News reports that he stopped in at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser in connection with a $150 contribution his wife made to the group in 1994. The Romney camp is standing by its earlier claim that Romney himself never contributed to a pro-abortion rights group and that he has no recollection of his wife's contribution. That donation had been disclosed earlier; what's new is the discovery that Romney actually attended a Planned Parenthood reception, making his foggy memory harder to believe. From ABC:

"As Mrs. Romney has stated previously, she is unfamiliar with the circumstances of a check she wrote close to 14 years ago," [Romney spokesman Kevin] 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."

[Then-president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts] 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."

God-o-Meter notes that the story casts yet more doubt on Romney's claim that he was "effectively pro-choice" before his conversion to a staunchly pro-life position. Seems more active than effective.