Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, attempted to up his anti-abortion credentials Monday by speaking out on the Susan G. Komen controversy. According to the Huffington Post, Romney told a Minnesota radio program that he supported Komen’s original decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.
The former Massachusetts governor was on air when host Scott Hennen asked him whether Susan G. Komen for the Cure ought to continue giving grants to Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings and mammogram referrals.
Romney replied, “I don’t think so.”
“I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood,” he added. “Look, the idea that we’re subsidizing an institution which is providing abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood ought to stand on their own feet, and should not get government subsidy.”
The Susan G. Komen group was the subject of considerable backlash after it announced that it was pulling its funding from Planned Parenthood earlier this month. Karen Handel, the anti-abortion vice president for the group’s public policy sector, said the decision was not political but due to the fact that Planned Parenthood is under congressional investigation. After days of angry responses to the group, Susan G. Komen reversed its decision and apologized.
