Gov. Mitt Romney has been criticized for his sudden change of position regarding abortion. Many have claimed that the switch was purely political. I admit that I was a little skeptical myself. In an interview with National Review Online, however, the governor explains that this change came when he realized that how Roe v. Wade has cheapened the sanctity of life. A realization that came about over discussions on embryonic stem cell research, of which he is an outspoken opponent:

“My position has changed and I have acknowledged that. How that came about is that several years ago, in the course of the stem-cell-research debate I met with a pair of experts from Harvard. At one point the experts pointed out that embryonic-stem-cell research should not be a moral issue because the embryos were destroyed at 14 days. After the meeting I looked over at Beth Myers, my chief of staff, and we both had exactly the same reaction — it just hit us hard just how much the sanctity of life had been cheapened by virtue of the Roe v. Wade mentality. And from that point forward, I said to the people of Massachusetts, “I will continue to honor what I pledged to you, but I prefer to call myself pro-life.”…I do believe that the one-size-fits-all, abortion-on-demand-for-all-nine-months decision in Roe v. Wade does not serve the country well and is another example of judges making the law instead of interpreting the Constitution.”