Since announcing his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination for president, former Sen. Rick Santorum has not been shy about touting his anti-abortion views, which he’ll be discussing next week at the National Right to Life conference in Jacksonville. #
An anti-abortion rights stalwart, Santorum has long been vocal in the charge to ban partial-birth abortions and was the primary sponsor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 during his time as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. #
Some of Santorum’s past endorsements of abortion proponents have already come back to haunt him. A robocall released in March of last year called him a “pro-life fraud” for his support of ”the abortion-promoting governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman” and “radical abortionist Sen. Arlen Specter.” #
During an interview on a conservative radio talk show, Santorum slammed Indiana governor Mitch Daniels for remarks that a “mute button” should be pressed on issues like abortion, to allow for a renewed focus on the economy. As quoted on the site LifeNews.com, Santorum said that Daniels’ talk of a “truce” was “far off base”: #
I don’t think he understands what conservatism is all about. … I don’t think he understands that Reagan’s three-legged stool is not just that we have three legs of the stool, the social conservative, the fiscal conservative and national security conservatives, but that the material made of all three parts of the stool is the same. … And it’s a moral and cultural heritage of this country, is what that stool, the material itself that the stool is made of. #
On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Santorum told host David Gregory that his beliefs were so strong that he felt abortion was murder even in cases of rape or incest and that all abortion doctors should be “criminally charged.” #
“I want to be clear on this. Do you believe that there should be any legal exceptions for rape or incest when it comes to abortion?” Gregory asked. #
“I believe that life begins at conception and that that life should be guaranteed under the constitution. … I believe that any doctor that performs an abortion should be criminally charged for doing so. I’ve never supported the criminalization of abortion for mothers, but I do for people that perform them,” said Santorum. #
Santorum will be in Jacksonville next week, to make an appearance at the 2011 National Right to Life convention. He is slated to take part in a candidate forum alongside fellow GOP presidential nominees Herman Cain and Ron Paul. #
