[TheRealVille]

We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community.

Mitt Romney invested in a company called Stericycle, which specializes in medical waste removal. Their clientele included several abortion clinics. Romney claims he had no involvement with the company at this point, but documents recovered by the SEC suggest otherwise. So while Romney is a staunch pro-life candidate, he apparently has no issue making money off of abortions. Smart business move, or an example of morality for sale? Via Mother Jones:

Earlier this year, Mitt Romney nearly landed in a politically perilous controversy when the Huffington Post reported that in 1999 the GOP presidential candidate had been part of an investment group that invested $75 million in Stericycle, a medical-waste disposal firm that has been attacked by anti-abortion groups for disposing aborted fetuses collected from family planning clinics. Coming during the heat of the GOP primaries, as Romney tried to sell South Carolina Republicans on his pro-life bona fides, the revelation had the potential to damage the candidate's reputation among values voters already suspicious of his shifting position on abortion.
...

Another SEC document filed November 30, 1999, by Stericycle also names Romney as an individual who holds "voting and dispositive power" with respect to the stock owned by Bain. If Romney had fully retired from the private equity firm he founded, why would he be the only Bain executive named as the person in control of this large amount of Stericycle stock?

Commenters weigh in:

mitekillem: "Capitalism! - Make money any way you can, regardless of who it hurts."

mrpuma2u: "I would say it's less a question of hurt (the fetuses were already dead) and more a question of values, Willard is allegedly pro-life, but yet not above making some $$$ off of the byproducts of a procedure he wants to see outlawed. Not that it is surprising, but mittens is a big fat hypocrite."

faye59: "If it made money, I believe it. Makes as much sense as opposing abortion and supporting the death penalty. A bit unseemly. Noone should make money like this.EEw."

fiberbundle: "I don't care if Romney eats dead fetuses, as long as he does it as a private citizen. I just don't want that ass in the White house."

letsliveinpeace: "All of this undermines Bain's contention that Romney, though he maintained an ownership interest in the firm and its funds, had nothing to do with the firm's activities after February 1999. The Stericycle deal may raise red flags for anti-abortion activists. But it also raises questions about the true timing of Romney's departure from Bain and casts doubt on claims by the company and the Romney campaign that he had nothing to do with Bain business after February 1999."

http://current.com/blog/93830148_romneys...linics.htm