Romney: Blunting confusion on support of contraception amendment

Mar 2 2012

The campaign issued a clarification Wednesday after comments made by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to an Ohio reporter about the contraception-related Senate amendment. Romney's camp clarified his support for the amendment. 

The Washington Post: Romney Camp Says Candidate Supports Blunt Amendment On Contraceptive Coverage
One day after his big wins in Michigan and Arizona, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) found himself in the eye of a media storm Wednesday afternoon after his response to an Ohio reporter about a contraception-related Senate amendment began making the rounds. Romney's camp clarified after the interview that the candidate supports Sen. Roy Blunt's (R-Mo.) amendment, which is aimed at reversing the Obama administration's policy requiring religious-affiliated institutions to provide health insurance that covers contraception (Sonmez, 2/29).

The Hill: Campaign: Romney Would Support Blunt Birth-Control Measure
Mitt Romney's presidential campaign says he does support an amendment that would overturn the White House's controversial contraception mandate, following an interview in which Romney said he would not vote for the proposal. The Ohio News Network reported Wednesday that Romney had said he would not support Sen. Roy Blunt's (R-Mo.) amendment, which is coming up in the Senate for a vote on Thursday. The measure would let employers opt out of healthcare mandates that violate their religious or moral beliefs, including the controversial contraception mandate (Baker, 2/29).

The Associated Press: Romney Clarifies His Position On Blunt Amendment
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday he opposed Senate Republicans' effort that critics say would limit insurance coverage of birth control, then reversed himself quickly in a second interview saying he misunderstood the question. Romney told Ohio News Network during an interview that he opposed a measure by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., that was scheduled for a vote Thursday. "I'm not for the bill," Romney said before urging the interviewer to move on. Romney later said he didn't understand the question (Elliott, 2/29).

Boston Globe: Amid Confusion, Romney Says He Supports Blunt Amendment
Mitt Romney this afternoon initially said he was opposed to legislation granting employers the right to exclude medical services from workers' insurance on moral or religious grounds, telling an Ohio television station that he would not support the controversial Blunt amendment backed by many Senate Republicans, including Scott Brown of Massachusetts. ... Romney's campaign quickly clarified, claiming that Romney does support the legislation and was confused by the question (Viser, 2/29).

Politico: Mitt: I Misunderstood Blunt Bill Question
Mitt Romney moved quickly tonight to clean up the budding controversy over his interview with the Ohio News Network, in which he appeared to say he didn't support the amendment in the Senate that would overturn President Obama's contraception mandate. In a radio interview on the Howie Carr show, Romney said he merely misunderstood the question on what the ONN reporter referred to as the "Blunt-Rubio amendment" (Schultheis, 2/29).