State Rep Who Said There’s A ‘Special Place In Hell’ For Mitt Romney May Run For Lieutenant Governor

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2021/06/04/state-rep-who-said-theres-a-special-place-in-hell-for-mitt-romney-may-run-for-lieutenant-governor/

Abortion-supporting state Representative Tami Gouveia (D-Acton), who is no fan of U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), may end up running to be lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.

The second-term Democrat has been calling her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in recent days telling them she plans to run for the post instead of for re-election in the 14th Middlesex District, according to State House News Service.

Gouveia is a part of the progressive wing of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. A staunch abortion supporter, she attacked former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for announcing he was open to voting to confirm the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump nominated Barrett after pro-legal-abortion and liberal lioness Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020. Trump and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) announced support for replacing Ginsburg before the presidential election with a conservative judge.

Many Democrats weren’t happy about that, both because they opposed Barrett but also because they cried foul, since when Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate in 2016 they refused to consider the nomination by then-President Barack Obama of liberal judge Merrick Garland to replace conservative Antonin Scalia, who died that February. Republicans said that the November 2016 presidential election should decide who got to replace Scalia — as it did, when Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch after getting elected.

In 2020, Republicans modified their argument, saying that if the same party controls both the White House and the Senate, it’s proper to fill a Supreme Court vacancy even if the next presidential election is close at hand.

Democrats trying to block Barrett had hopes that Romney might vote against her, since he despises Trump. But after intense speculation, Romney announced on September 22, 2020 that he would support holding a floor vote on Barrett’s nomination — which just about clinched it that she would be confirmed. She was, the following month, with Romney’s vote.

On September 22, after Romney’s announcement about Barrett, Gouveia tweeted out, “There’s a special place in hell for you ⁦@SenatorRomney⁩. You really are the spineless sell out we always knew you to be.”

NewBostonPost asked Gouveia for a comment about her tweet via email. She responded by writing, “I think it speaks for itself but if you have a more specific question let me know.”

Romney voted to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court in October 2020, creating a 6-3 Republican majority. One major reason why progressives opposed Barrett is that they fear she may help the court overturn Roe v. Wade, giving states more authority to restrict abortion.

The same week where Gouveia went after Romney on Twitter, she retweeted a tweet that said, “MA needs to honor RBG’s legacy and pass the ROE Act. Everyone deserves access to equitable abortion care.”

Gouveia voted for the ROE Act abortion expansion bill in Massachusetts which the state Legislature enacted in December 2020 over Governor Charlie Baker’s veto and the opposition of some Democrats in addition to almost every Republican.

The bill expanded the definition of legal abortion in Massachusetts beyond 24 weeks in cases where “an abortion is warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.” The law previously allowed for abortion after 24 weeks “to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health.” The bill also lowered the age of those required to obtain parental or judicial consent for an abortion from 17 and younger to 15 and younger.

The bill eliminated language from then-existing Massachusetts law that required doctors to attempt to save the life of a baby born alive after an attempted abortion. It repealed Section 12P of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 112, which states:

Section 12P. If an abortion is performed pursuant to section twelve M, the physician performing the abortion shall take all reasonable steps, both during and subsequent to the abortion, in keeping with good medical practice, consistent with the procedure being used, to preserve the life and health of the aborted child. Such steps shall include the presence of life-supporting equipment, as defined by the department of public health, in the room where the abortion is to be performed.

Thus far, Melrose resident Scott Donohue is the only Democrat officially running for lieutenant governor. The only Republican running thus far is Rayla Campbell of Randolph, a conservative who ran a write-in campaign for Congress in the state’s Seventh Congressional District against U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Dorchester) in 2020.

 

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