Circumstances surrounding Romney's conversion

Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO has a full article about Romney’s conversion to pro-life. Lopez describes the history at the time of his change of heart and the middle ground he sought out at the time, only to be opposed:

Cynics then and now would say the governor made a stand against cloning purely as an act of pandering: He judged that pro-life primary voters held the key to the White House, and so he took their side. But I never bought that explanation. If it were all about winning a future election, you’d think Romney would have gone all the way — and opposed the use of frozen embryos in fertility clinics in scientific research. Instead, it seemed to me, he actually believed what he was saying.

Lopez goes on to say that Romney’s stance on life issues was the result of meeting an uncompromising biotech industry and pro-choice regime. Significantly, she chides him for relying on the singular incident alone and not exploring the full picture of his conversion.

Now, with Lopez, a public supporter of Romney, much of her positive press should be taken with some skepticism (much like what is said by Romney supporters on this blog). However, she tells a compelling story of how Romney came to confront the issues. Indeed it makes Romney sound more like an “I didn’t leave the pro-choice movement. It left me,” moderate. This is a much more plausible, and probably truer, version of Romney. Essentially, Romney became pro-life because there was no logical end to the pro-choice movement.

I know that there is a lot of complaint about how far out people are declaring their candidacy, but for Romney it is a plus on this issue. He has time for conservatives to come to trust that his conversion is not a political ploy, but a heart-felt embrace of life issues. Whether they will is another question.