Huckabee At Debate Expresses Support For Abortion Ban Amendment; Romney Explains Support For Two-Step Process To Ban Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 10 Sep 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Wednesday at a debate in Durham, N.H., said that he supports a constitutional amendment that would ban abortion, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The debate at the University of New Hampshire was moderated by Fox News' Brit Hume (Quaid, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/6). Huckabee said he would "love to see" the U.S. adopt an amendment similar to one in the Arkansas Constitution "that says that we believe life begins at conception and that we ought to do everything in the world possible to protect it until its natural conclusion."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who also is running for the Republican nomination, was asked by Fox News' Wendell Goler about his abortion-rights position (Fox News debate transcript, 9/5). Top advisers last month said Romney supports a two-tiered process in which states first would obtain authority to regulate abortion after Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans -- is overturned. The second step would be a constitutional amendment that bans most abortions nationwide (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/23).

Romney said, "I believe almost all of us in the room would say that we'd love to have an America that didn't have abortion. But the truth of the matter is ... that's not what America is right now. That's not what the American people are right now. And so I'd like to see Roe v. Wade overturned and allow the states and the elected representatives of the people, and the people themselves, have the ability to put in place pro-life legislation" (AP/Google.com, 9/6).

Romney added, "I believe that a civilized society must respect the sanctity of the human life. But we have two lives involved here -- a mom, an unborn child. We have to have concern for both lives and show the expression of our compassion and our consideration and work to change hearts and minds, and that's the way in my view we'll ultimately have a society without abortion" (Fox News debate transcript, 9/5).

A Fox News transcript of the complete debate is available online. Fox News video of Romney and Huckabee's comments on abortion also is available online (FoxNews.com, 9/6).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.