IVA: Questions for Gov. Mitt Romney

The question for the governor is this: Will you, as president, veto any “hate crimes” laws that reach your desk? Or, if in force, will you advocate for the repeal of such laws, and sign such legislation if it reaches your desk?

2. Congress is currently considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which includes “sexual orientation” language. Again, such policies are quickly used to silence and punish adherents of traditional views of sexuality.

Thus the second question for Mr. Romney is this: Will you, as president, veto ENDA if it reaches your desk? Or alternatively, if it is in force, will you advocate for its repeal and sign such a repeal?

3. The governor has openly declared his support for a federal marriage amendment, as well as supporting the right of states to amend their own constitutions to protect marriage.

Idaho voters, in November of 2006, by a 63-37% margin, amended their state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman and also to prohibit the legal recognition of alternate domestic arrangements.

The question for Gov. Romney, then, is not whether he supports state’s rights in this matter, but this: Do you believe that Idahoans were right to prohibit the legal recognition of homosexual partnerships in our state constitution?

4. The governor has indicated that central to his support for marriage amendments at both the state and federal level is his belief that children need and deserve both a mother and a father.

This naturally raises the question of adoption policy. The question is not whether states have the right to decide this issue for themselves, but whether it is in fact right for them to reserve adoptions for homes headed by married couples.

The question for the governor is this: If children need both a mother and a father, do you support adoption policies that will reserve adoption for heterosexual households headed by a father and a mother who are married to each other, and in so doing prohibit homosexual adoptions?

5. The governor has publicly stated that he will appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court, judges in the mold of John Roberts and Antonin Scalia. Yet, according to the Boston Globe, during his term of office as governor of Massachusetts, 23 of the 36 judges Mr. Romney appointed to the bench were either Democrats or independents who donated to Democrat candidates and causes, and two were leading legal advocates for expanded homosexual rights.

This naturally raises the question as to whether the governor has experienced a similar conversion on judicial appointments, and if so, which current judges are, in his judgment, strict constructionists. It will help to alleviate concerns along this line if the governor can identify current federal judges who meet his criteria and are, in his estimation, originalist judges.

The question for Gov. Romney is this: Will you identify for us, by name, your top five potential candidates for a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court? That is, if you had to nominate someone tomorrow for a seat on the bench, who are the top five individuals you would consider?

6. Mr. Romney has publicly stated that homosexuals should have the right to serve as Scoutmasters for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Because the BSA prohibits homosexuals from serving as Scoutmasters, many United Way affiliates have cut off funding for the Boy Scouts, and the BSA has been harassed by city governments in San Diego, Berkeley, and Philadelphia, among others.

The question, then, is this: Do you believe it is in fact right for the Boy Scouts of America to refuse to allow open homosexuals to serve as Scoutmasters?

7. Mr. Romney, as recently as the 2002 campaign for governor of Massachusetts, aggressively and vigorously defended his pro-choice credentials. Yet he has recently become an outspoken pro-life advocate, and, for example, now opposes embryonic stem cell research. A number of pro-life amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been proposed in recent years, many of which would guarantee the right to life of every human being from the moment of fertilization.

This, then, is the question for Gov. Romney: Do you publicly support the passage of an amendment to the United States Constitution that will guarantee the right to life of every human being from the moment of fertilization?

Again, here are the seven questions we believe it is important for Gov. Romney to answer during his visit to Idaho:

1. Will you, as president, veto any “hate crimes” laws that reach your desk? Or, if in force, will you advocate for the repeal of such laws, and sign such legislation if it reaches your desk?

2. Will you, as president, veto ENDA if it reaches your desk? Or alternatively, if it is in force, will you advocate for its repeal and sign such a repeal?

3. Do you believe that Idahoans were right to amend our state constitution to prohibit the legal recognition of homosexual partnerships?

4. Since children, in your judgment, need both a mother and a father, do you support policies that reserve adoption for heterosexual households headed by a father and a mother who are married to each other, and which therefore prohibit homosexual adoptions?

5. Can you identify for us, by name, your top five potential candidates to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court? That is, if you had to nominate someone tomorrow for a seat on the bench, who are the top five individuals you would consider?

6. Do you believe it is right for the Boy Scouts of America to refuse to allow open homosexuals to serve as Scoutmasters?

7. Do you publicly support the passage of an amendment to the United States Constitution that will guarantee the right to life of every human being from the moment of fertilization?

The Idaho Values Alliance and hundreds of thousands of concerned Idahoans eagerly await your public answers to these questions.

Idaho Values Alliance: Questions for Gov. Mitt Romney