Actresses call out Romney on abortion in new ad
(CNN) – Hollywood actresses Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington are featured condemning Republicans for their stance on abortion in a new political ad from the liberal group MoveOn.org.
The spot, released Monday and directed by noted filmmaker Rob Reiner, will air nationally and in the battleground states of Colorado and Virginia, the group said, adding it would air during shows primarily viewed by women.
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"I want to talk to you about women," Johansson says at the beginning of the spot, followed by Washington saying, "And about Mitt Romney."
"Mitt Romney is for ending funding to Planned Parenthood," Longoria says, with Johansson chiming in, "Including cancer screenings."
The ad continues:
Washington: "He said he'd overturn Roe v. Wade."
Johansson: "We have Republicans trying to redefine rape."
Longoria: "Trying to force women to undergo invasive ultrasounds."
Johansson: "If you think that this election won't affect you and your life, think again."
Washington: "Vote."
Longoria: "Vote."
Johansson: "Vote for Barack Obama."
In a statement, Reiner said Romney, and his running mate Paul Ryan, would "eviscerate women's rights" if they're elected in November.
"We'd be talking about getting rid of abortion, birth control, access to health care screenings. As a husband, son and father, I can't stand by and let this happen," Reiner continued.
"Misleading political attacks will not change President Obama's failed record," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg wrote in response to the MoveOn.org ad. "His policies have made it harder for women across the country to start businesses, get good jobs, or see their children able to go to college and get started with their lives. Mitt Romney will lead us to a real recovery so that women – and all Americans – can succeed and live the American Dream."
Last week, Democrats pounced on Romney after he said in an interview with the Des Moines Register that he was not aware of any abortion legislation he would promote as part of his agenda as president.
Democrats claimed that was a reversal for the candidate, who maintained during the GOP primary season that he would support efforts to remove funding for Planned Parenthood, a women's health group that provides abortion services. Several House Republicans have introduced legislation that would strip funding from the group.
Romney reiterated that pledge later in the week, and on Sunday a top adviser to Romney's campaign said the GOP nominee was a "pro-life candidate" and would serve as a "pro-life president."
Ed Gillespie, speaking to CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley on "State of the Union," said that was a long-standing position for the Republican candidate.
"What the governor has consistently said is that he thinks Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and this is something that should be left to elected representatives, to the people through their elected representatives," Gillespie said, referring to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming a woman's right to have an abortion.
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Problem is this: with the economic future of our country hanging in the balance, Republicans have consistently shown that their first priority when taking office at any level, be it local, state, or national, is to try to push their right-wing religious agenda on everyone. Personally I find it hypocritical that the same people who fight to force women to bear unwanted offspring are the first ones to vote against raising taxes to support the enormous social costs of taking care of them once they have been born.
I find it interesting how democrats are all about saving the earth and saving single cell amebas that live in a pond in California and dont want to eat meat because it might hurt an animal but when it comes to a baby in a womb with a heart beat and eyes and ears and toes and fingers, they are fair game for destruction!
Hypocritical if you ask me.
If men had babies there would be an abortion clinic on every corner. Since they don't they want to control women any way they can. They say to leave abortion law's to the state's so they can still raise money on the issue in state' that keep abortion legal
No one and no government is going to tell a woman what she can do, or can't do with her body. It's hers alone and it's her decision. That is what Roe vs. Wade is about and that's the way it needs to stay. I don't see pro-lifers stepping up to the plate to paying the medical costs for unwanted pregnancies, counseling for rape victms, and then agreeing to adopt all these aborted fetuses and putting them through college. You want a solution to abortion? Then be part of the problem-solving.
A woman is weak if a man pursuades her to have an abortion, or else. I can speak on this because I have experienced it. I was weak. Doing it made nothing better in my marriage and only made me hate my husband. I can never look at him the same again, ever. I was lucky enough to have another baby recently and again he didn't want the financial burden of a baby but I stood my ground this time, we are still together. If he would have forced the issue, he would have been gone. I only wish abortion was illegal then I wouldn't have had to go through it. If it was illegal, a husband wouldn't have to make his wife make that choice.
I am so tired of the Democratic Party pandering to the entertainment industry. Those people are beyond the 1%. They are rich, pampered and spoiled. People like Rob Reiner and Scarlet Johansson are filthy rich and privileged. They live in a bubble where the average American is not allowed access. They talk down to us as if we are mere commoners and they are royalty. Why was there never an Occupy Hollywood?
These washed up actresses have no credibility, they are acting, they are not smart emough to understand things, they live in a fantasy world.
truth hurts-
GOP calls itself "Pro-Life" but supports war, Capital Punishment and wants to end programs to support children, single mothers and the poor.
What's your point?
Don't you just love it.... actresses using their celebrity status to promote a candidate. Why should their opinion mean more than the average American? Who even really KNOWS these women who play fictional characters as a job. It would appear they are even dressed-down with little make-up, I guess so they appear like everyday 'housewives'. Also, having a Mexican American, African-American and a Caucasian woman to appeal to demographics who will be watching when the ads are aired.
I AM pro-choice but find this ad offensive. It would seem the opinions of people who only play fictional/nonfictional people as a JOB should have little influence on how anyone in America forms an opinion or chooses a candidate. Hollywood directors and actors... you are paid to entertain not to spoon-feed YOUR political agenda to others.
Well, maybe the American public should stop listening to those stupid people in Hollywood. After all, who are these people? They are no smarter than the average Iowa pig farmer. I could care less is Scarlett Johansson and Eva Longoria has a problem keeping their panties on. Maybe they should stop having sex with ever man they come across. This is just another form of birth control for many. Shame on you for taking the life of a human being. Abortion is MURDER!!!
If the child in the womb was a mere piece of meat than an ultrasound would be no cause for concern.
Why all the guilt? Why all the furor? Why the sadness, demands, and utter horror at the sight of an aborted fetus?
Because deep down you knew it was human. Stop condoning murder because you kept your eyes shut.
"Is this the best you can come up with. Obama has destroyed this country. Time to vote him out before he completely destroys it."
It is a shocking, but useful, revelation to realize that some modern humans can be so abjectly stupid. This one is a bit-flip away from the "missing link", and as Gomer Pyle used to say, "surprise, surprise" its a [R].
It is also hypocritical of a group to say they want less government control, as a whole, but yet they want to control what I do with my uterus. Priceless.
The same people that worship at the altar of Ronald Reagan are now telling us that what an actor thinks shouldn't matter.
The same people who want to police the world, send arms to foreign countries, and start a war with Iran over Israel are now telling us that killing is wrong.
The same people who call themselves Republicans are willing to vote for a guy with an -(R) next to his name who is about the furthest thing from a Republican that these eyes have ever seen.
It would really be great if you could at least stop lying to yourselves and stop the hypocrisy. At least admit that when it's your agenda, actors are fine, killing is not a problem for Republicans, and that there is actually not much difference in what the new moderate Mitt Romney is saying he NOW believes versus Obama.
You Republicans are being fleeced by a salesman, and you are just too stupid to realize it.
I cannot for the life of me understand how someone can believe some of this stuff. No where does it say that Romney/Ryan wants to outlaw contraceptions. Where do you people get this stuff? Oh, wait a minute. You get it from the media. If people actually rely on actresses and media to tell them how to vote, than this country is definitely going down the tubes. With these hollywood people who are in the top earners that Obama wants to tax more heavily, if they want to pay more taxes, than by all means go ahead and pay them. Nobody is stopping these people from paying more taxes. They can pay all the taxes they want. But I do not see them writing out their checks for anything extra.
Oh by the way, Akin is now ahead in Mo. So put a fork in Obama. He's been exposed as being clueless and inept. Americans love a winner and hate a loser. Obama is a loser and Americans can clearly see this. Winners don’t have time for excuses, they move on to the next success.
Freedomseeker: your 1st 3 sentences is exactly what I said while the [R] nominated Reagan. Congratulations!
Funny how all you Neo-cons were trumpeting Eastwood's right to express his political views against Obama but now that three actress express their rights you call them stupid and say they should shut up. The republicans are hypocrites and self-righteous people who love having the gov't involved in setting moral policies. Unfortunately, the US gov't and (all others) tend to be more immoral than any person. You can't have it both ways. If you want less gov't than it has to be all the time. I do not want an immoral gov't making a personal decision for me or my daughters.
If you GOPers are so against killing why are you so for war?
I don't know what cave this "pro-lifeers" have been living into... Look at all the Republican representatives and candidates' opinions about women rights! Yes, it is about Romney and Ryan who want to basically hide it, but it is also about Akin in Missouri, about Michelle Bachmann, about Santorum, Sarah Palin, about legislators in Virginia, and all these crazy people who believe they control women's bodies! Go research, and realize what REpublicans stand for in terms of women rights.
Oh by the way, Akin now leads in Mo. Where were all these voices when Bill Clinton was on a rampage? Paula Jone, Kathleen Whilley and Juanita Broddrick would like to know. so put a fork in Obama. He's done. He's been exposed as being clueless and inept. Americans love a winner and hate a loser. Obama is a loser and Americans can clearly see this. Winners don’t have time for excuses, they move on to the next success.
When any of you men have the ability to bare children, then you can comment. Until...go somewhere! No one and I mean no one has the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. What will it be next...birth limits?
@Mark – Who cares what these women think? Like they are really relevant?
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And in those words lie the root cause of why no self-respecting independent American woman would ever vote Republican.
Women have a right to make a choice. What if there were items up on the ballot this time to force men to have a vascetomy if they continue to father children they won't support. Would we have the same comments from men then? A woman has the right to choose. It's a very PERSONAL issue between that woman and her God. NOBODY had the right to push their values and beliefs on anyone else, especially where the body is concerned. If all these pro-life people were so good then they would either adopt these unwanted children and support them and the programs to help them. I noticed the people who claim right to life seem to also be against assistance to the poor. Where do you think these unwanted children will end up? Either put up or shut up. Men, either get out of the womans womb, or face legislation in the future to force vascetomys. Whats fair is fair!
So nice that these "special" individuals believe that killing children is OK. as long as its a womens choice. Genocide, no matter how you sanitize the name is still genocide. Lets hear it for progressive women everywhere.
If men wanted to control women, it would already be done. That argument does not hold your water. I can say that I am glad my mother chose to have me and that i have chosen to bring my children into the world. If you are posting on here and are not willing to give a child the same chance you had, then you are a hypocrite and should not be given the opportunity to bear children. You have a choice in life because your mother gave you the opportunity. Your child deserves the same!!