The Massachusetts law, which essentially mirrored Obama’s proposal, was signed by Romney’s predecessor in 2002, the year before he took office. Romney did not seek its repeal…
While Romney was largely silent on the contraceptive coverage mandate, he fought a much more public battle over whether to require hospitals in Massachusetts to dispense emergency contraception to rape victims.
For Romney, the episode pitted his pledge to expand access to emergency contraception against another campaign promise not to change the state’s abortion laws.
In the end Romney vetoed the bill, but declined to press any legal challenge to the new law once his veto was overturned by state lawmakers…
The debate stretches back to 2002, when Romney, then a Republican candidate for governor, answered “yes” on a candidate questionnaire distributed by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts that asked whether he would support increased access to emergency contraception.
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