The Abortion That Mitt Doesn't Talk About Any More..
http://www.salon.com/2011/08/08/mitt_romney_abortion_ann_keenan/singleton/In a 1994 Senate debate with Ted Kennedy, Mitt Romney revealed a startling chapter from his past: A close relative had died many years earlier in a botched illegal abortion, shaping Romney’s stance in favor of safe and legal access to abortion for all women. But in the many years since that revelation, even as Romney flipped his position and became an ardent opponent of legal abortion, the details of his young relative’s story, including even her name, have never been reported.
The relative he was referring to back in ’94, Salon has learned, was a Detroit woman named Ann Keenan. She was the sister of Romney’s brother-in-law and died at the age of 21 in 1963, a full decade before Roe v. Wade. While much of what happened remains murky, an investigation by Salon has uncovered never-reported details about her life and death, including: how she died (an infection); that her grief-stricken parents asked for memorial donations to be made to Planned Parenthood; and that the family apparently wanted to keep the death quiet because Romney’s politically ambitious father, George, was then governor of Michigan.
With access to abortion increasingly restricted in many states and the possibility that a Republican victory in 2012 — potentially by Romney — will tilt the balance of the Supreme Court against Roe v. Wade, Romney’s account of how a back-alley abortion touched his own family is more relevant than ever. The episode is a window into an era when obtaining an abortion meant the real risk of serious injury or death. It also represents a key part of Romney’s political journey on the issue of abortion, which has more than any other tarred him as a flip-flopper.
The outlines of the story first became public when Romney — unprompted — brought it up in that 1994 debate with Kennedy, whom he was trying to unseat. At the time, Romney, who was making his first bid for office, was struggling to prove his pro-choice bona fides to liberal Massachusetts voters. In the debate, he insisted that he separated his personal beliefs — opposition to abortion — from his policy position that abortion “should be safe and legal in this country.” Accused by Kennedy of being “multiple-choice,” Romney angrily fired back:
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Read the rest of the piece at the link..
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I am so sorry. And you said that better and for more reasons than I ever could have. Your mother is lovely. I also lost my mother, though quite recently. She fell down the stairs during the blackout caused by Hurricane Irene, so this was my first Mother's Day without her. You've put things into better perspective for me. Thank you and you have my sympathies. 
Thank you.
I can only imagine how painful that must have been to lose your mother the way you did. This first Mother's day without her had to be difficult. I remember my first like it was yesterday. And I still miss my mom every single day.
I can't tell you how sorry I am for you.
Because it was such a bizarre accident, it still doesn't seem entirely real to me. I had no idea it would hit me this hard. 
And I am so sorry for your pain. But it does help to know that others understand. This thread on Sunday helped me a lot. At least I knew I wasn't alone. DU is pretty wonderful like that... And DUers are really the best. 
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=114857
I think of you.
Every time I see a thread like this, I think of my mom.. And then I think of you; how kind you've been to me starting with your very first reply. And the way you've gotten my back when discussions about her have come up here on DU, alerting me to them.
I don't think I've ever told you how much your posts to me have meant. So much.
.. separates the rightness of a choice from the freedom to make a choice. In this respect, I wholeheartedly agree with the LDS stance. As a liberal, I am steadfastly opposed to any restriction (e.g. "prior restraint"
on an individual's freedom to either (a) sin or (b) commit a felony. Thus, any adherent of a religion who, for alleged religious reasons, advocates legal restrictions on such choices is one of the worst kinds of human beings: a hypocrite. Further, if such an individual proclaims themselves an advocate for "freedom" and/or "liberty," they are then doubly a hypocrite. Even further, if such an individual proclaims themselves an advocate for "smaller government," then thay are triply a hypocrite.
Thus, Rmoney is not only a hypocrite of the third order, he is an unmitigated whore, virtually free of any character of note and essentially absent any integrity whatsoever..
The answer to "when is the sister of your brother-in-law NOT a sister-in-law" is "when she's the sister-in-law of your sister," which she was. (The "in-law" relationship is not transitive. I.e. the relationship to YOU of THEIR natural relatives is zilch unless otherwise linked.)
We are a likable bunch. No, really, we are.
make it something quite different.
The compassion and love for others....
Please read through the entire thread.
DU is a good place.
It is too bad Mitt is so afraid to stand firm on things that really matter- his lust for winning has cost him more than he realizes.
