Mitt Romney: 'I am pro-life'
Saying that because the "morning-after pill" is an abortifacient rather than just a contraceptive, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney vetoed a bill that would allow some pharmacists to dispense it without a prescription and require hospitals to offer it to rape victims.

"Signing such a measure into law would violate the promise I made to the citizens of Massachusetts when I ran for governor," Romney says in a Boston Globeop-ed piece today. "I pledged that I would not change our abortion laws either to restrict abortion or to facilitate it. … I have spoken with medical professionals to determine whether the drug contemplated under the bill would simply prevent conception or whether it would also terminate a living embryo after conception. Once it became clear that the latter was the case, my decision was straightforward."

The decision won't have much practical effect. As The Boston Globe states, "It almost certainly will become law despite Romney's rejection; both the House and Senate approved it by veto-proof margins, and legislative leaders said they plan to override his veto."

But it does have personal and political effect for Romney. Much is being made of his description of how his prolife convictions, as he says, "evolved and deepened during [his] time as governor." In earlier years, Romney has supported "the substance" of Roe v. Wade, and as late as a 2002 speech to Republicans, stated, "I respect and will fully protect a woman's right to choose. That choice is a deeply personal one, and the women of our state should make it based on their beliefs, not mine and not the government's."

Now, Romney says, "I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, ...