Four top GOP candidates would ban abortion in rape, incest
In November, 58 percent of voters in Mississippi rejected a so-called “personhood amendment,” which stated that human life begins at the moment of fertilization and gave human embryos all of the legal protections of a person. Destroying an embryo by any means would be considered murder.
The amendment would have outlawed abortion even in cases of rape and incest, as well as embryonic stem-cell research. According to personhood backers, it would also affect birth-control methods such as the morning-after pill, the IUD and even the standard birth-control pill, which works by preventing the fertilized embryo from attaching itself to the uterus. As a practical matter, its adoption would also halt in vitro fertilization to help childless couples.
Nonetheless, four of the top five candidates for the Republican nomination — Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry — last night publicly committed themselves to the cause of personhood and to the candidate pledge promoted by Personhood USA.
Mitt Romney has ducked the issue, arguing that human life begins at conception but concluding that such decisions should be made at the state rather than federal level. Jon Huntsman has said the personhood movement “goes too far.”
– Jay Bookman
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© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
527 comments Add your comment
Doggone/GA
December 28th, 2011
4:03 pm
Does foetal “personhood” mean a pregnant woman gets to vote twice? Once for herself, and once as proxy for her foetus?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 28th, 2011
4:04 pm
Can you say “dog whistle”…. Jay, you forgot to mention Perrry changed his mind after watching a movie….think of what could be done if he had to watch some Michael Moore documentaries.
Adam
December 28th, 2011
4:05 pm
Doggone, DDR: See what i mean?
TaxPayer
December 28th, 2011
4:05 pm
Well, at least John Huntsman has a functioning brain.
Adam
December 28th, 2011
4:06 pm
The Personhood thing is particularly interesting, and shows just how out of touch these people are with a majority of ALL Americans. Even in MISSISSIPPI they wouldn’t pass this thing!
Adam
December 28th, 2011
4:07 pm
TaxPayer: Well, at least John Huntsman has a functioning brain.
Which is exactly why he won’t be nominated.
DebbieDoRight
December 28th, 2011
4:08 pm
…..four of the top five candidates for the Republican nomination — Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry —
We’ve seen this movie before. It’s called Dumb and Dumber. Although they are making a sequel called “Dumb & Dumber Dates Gidget” subtitled “How the GOP Got They’re Groove Back To The 16th Century”
TaxPayer
December 28th, 2011
4:09 pm
Talk about your Republican invasion of the bedroom.
“You had sex last night and we got it all on tape,” said the Republican bedroom monitor. “If you fail to produce a child, you will be charged with murder and sentenced to death.”
DebbieDoRight
December 28th, 2011
4:11 pm
Doggone, DDR: See what i mean?
Yep – left you a post on the other thread. Will repeat it here:
God Adam! I’ve never even THOUGHT about that! (Even though I should have). Their (repubs) strategy, I guesss, is like water wearing down a rock. You don’t notice it, but slowly and effectively that once big strong rock is now just a little pebble.
Doggone/GA
December 28th, 2011
4:11 pm
“Which is exactly why he won’t be nominated”
Unless it becomes a case of “last man standing”
carlosgvv
December 28th, 2011
4:11 pm
If there are still any doubts that the crazed Christian Tea Party has taken over the Republican Party, this “candidate pledge” should dispell them. How many of you conservatives here honestly want your Government to outlaw the morning-after pill, the IUD, birth-control pills and in vitro fertilization? Just how far does your zeal to have a lighter shade of pale in the White House go?
Adam
December 28th, 2011
4:11 pm
We’ve seen this movie before. It’s called Dumb and Dumber.
“Hey, you wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?…”
DebbieDoRight
December 28th, 2011
4:14 pm
Adam: The Personhood thing is particularly interesting, and shows just how out of touch these people are with a majority of ALL Americans. Even in MISSISSIPPI they wouldn’t pass this thing!
They HAVE to follow lock step with what their masters (T-Party) wants. If not, then they’ll have to turn back in all their bribes and drive a beat up old Ford instead of a brand new made in Japan Toyota.
St Simons - we're on Island time
December 28th, 2011
4:14 pm
if they’re hitting this button this early, they know they have a problem
atta boy, mittens, what a principled stand, that mushy squishy terd.
Granny Godzilla
December 28th, 2011
4:15 pm
That’s one of the reasons none of the top four will be winning the White House.
Granny Godzilla
December 28th, 2011
4:16 pm
Oh and again I say….
Abortion is legal in this country because conservative women want that right too.
DebbieDoRight
December 28th, 2011
4:24 pm
Granny: Abortion is legal in this country because conservative women want that right too.
Word. And both cons and dems want access to birth control. No one wants an unwanted pregnancy and the best way to stop it is by birth control.
godless heathen
December 28th, 2011
4:25 pm
They are idiots and I disagree with all four of them. But I would probably still vote for them over the Chosen One 7 days a week.
Sortta like all the liberals that voted for Obama although he opposed same sex marriage.
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:25 pm
Perry said he had a ‘transformational moment.” I do not believe he said “I thought about it” which would have gained him even more headlines.
Jay
“Mitt Romney has ducked the issue, arguing that human life begins at conception but concluding that such decisions should be made at the state rather than federal level.”
Why is that a duck? He stated his view and he said states should decide what their standards are. If he’s been pushing Federalism than it’s consistent.
And where is Scout when we need him? I wanted to needle him about having four Republican contenders being more conservative than he is. Then again, I don’t think any of them can top “Kill the mother and justify it by calling it self defense” either. Now THAT would have made for some great followups at the next debate!
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:26 pm
Oops – misspoke – it was “Kill the BABY and justify it by calling it self defense.”
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:28 pm
Granny
Saw a Sunday morning show that related how Betty Ford was so pleased with Roe V Wade for bringing abortion out of the back alleys and into the hospitals where it’s safe. Then again, according to today’s Republicans, the Fords weren’t real Republicans, anyway.
carlosgvv
December 28th, 2011
4:28 pm
Granny – 4:16
I wish I could agree with that. Unfortunately the large number of women in the crazed Tea Party indicate otherwise.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 28th, 2011
4:28 pm
And once again we are confronted with Republicans who proclaim the value of life “at any age” but are only committed to protecting and providing for the survivability and quality of that life until the time of birth….. after that, you are on your own, subject to Republican contempt and indifference.
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:30 pm
godless
“But I would probably still vote for them over the Chosen One 7 days a week. ”
Then you’ve separated yourself from Newt. He flipped and flopped again, said in debates how any of the candidates would be better than Obama, yet yesterday/day before said that wasn’t true of Ron Paul.
Dusty
December 28th, 2011
4:30 pm
Good grief, people. Have you lost your minds completely?
This amendment would not even pass in Mississippi and you act like it covers the country.
Presidents do NOT make amendents. Congress makes them and the people vote on them. You STILL live in a free country and I wish you would stop acting like you don’t.
Presidental candidates voice their opinions. If you don’t like them, don’t vote for them. But trying to criminalize them makes you the criminal.
The biased hogwash here is deplorable no matter where you were taught it or what ticked you off. You fell for Bookman’s red meat like a pack of wolves. I thought you had a little more sense than that. You don’t.
Granny Godzilla
December 28th, 2011
4:32 pm
Paul
Betty was great wasn’t she.
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:32 pm
Hi Dusty
From downstairs: Pres Obama is Pres of the USofA, which includes Hawaii, so his security costs are citizen-provided.
Perry’s governor of Texas, campaigning to leave Texas. BIG difference. We cut teacher pay here yet he runs up hundreds of thousands paid for by taxpayers for his security detail and won’t pay for it with campaign funds.
Libertarian
December 28th, 2011
4:32 pm
Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry- Come one, we know these three don’t stand a chance.
Also, I thought the birth control pill prevented ovulation. Not “preventing the fertilized embryo from attaching itself to the uterus.” If one doesn’t ovulate, there is nothing to fertilize.
AmVet
December 28th, 2011
4:33 pm
Speaking of losers who have zero chance of winning the White House in 2012, is Herman’s campaign still “suspended”?
LOL…
Jay
December 28th, 2011
4:33 pm
Paul, Romney is ducking the issue because he will not say whether he agrees or disagrees with the personhood approach. He is also not consistent on the federalist approach. For example, on gay marriage he wants a constitutional amendment defining it as between a man and a woman.
godless heathen
December 28th, 2011
4:34 pm
That’s right Keep. We do all we can to make the babies suffer. I like to take them out and dunk them in the polluted river behind my plant in my spare time. All us Republicans are just wealthy, polutting baby haters.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 28th, 2011
4:34 pm
Criminalizing the “opinions of candidates”? Oh what nonsense.
Midori
December 28th, 2011
4:35 pm
They are idiots and I disagree with all four of them. But I would probably still vote for them over the Chosen One 7 days a week.
are you calling Obama the “chosen one” because sane people have the capability of choice?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 28th, 2011
4:36 pm
Heathen: All us Republicans are just wealthy, polutting baby haters.
Well identifying your problem is Step 1….. 11 more steps to go.
Midori
December 28th, 2011
4:39 pm
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s320×320/405540_322007977821074_114270361928171_1089223_673737202_n.jpg
Jay
December 28th, 2011
4:40 pm
The Pill does attempt to prevent ovulation, LIbertarian. Should it fail to do so, it then inhibits attachment of a fertilized egg to the uterus as a fallback.
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:41 pm
Jay
Thank you for the information. Seems like a no-brainer position to just say, when asked “are you nuts?!!?”
I’d be interested to hear reporters ask candidates who support an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman if they’d also support as part of the constitutional amendment defining same-sex unions as civil unions with all the rights and responsibilities of marriage. Seems like an obvious question.
jconservative
December 28th, 2011
4:41 pm
“…zeal to have a lighter shade of pale in the White House…”
Best comment today carlosgvv!
The SCOTUS says there is a Constitutional right to an abortion. It is being trimmed around the edges but is still intact.
But the Big Government Liberals have mounted a campaign to substitute the judgment of Government in place of the judgment of the Individual. There has been and will be a continual “war” to try to trim the rights of the Individual as guaranteed by the Constitution.
dw
December 28th, 2011
4:43 pm
+1 jconservative
Carlos hit the nail on the head
Dusty
December 28th, 2011
4:44 pm
Paul,
I’m glad to hear that Hawaii is paying for Secret Service and AirForce One and crew and all those little niceties like the early visit by Michelle and kiddies. We should thank Hawaii for thier kindness. Maybe the profits from hotel charges will offset their losses.
OH, I’m sure Perry is just making inspection and encouragement talks around the country like President Obama is doing (when he’s on the mainland). I guess it is all a matter of how your accountant wants to call it. Or to which political party the reporters come from when they are “reporting”.
Politics are crazy, especially in the world of so called journalism.
DebbieDoRight
December 28th, 2011
4:46 pm
Midori @ 4:39 Good one!!
josef
December 28th, 2011
4:46 pm
JAY
From downstairs…got back from some errands and found that belated Christmas present from you, of all people! No, I had never seen it and have only given it a first read. I’ll definitely be coming back to it. There’s hope for you yet on broadening your orthodox, conservative Sharia view! And you can rest assured I will be back with you SE on this.
Seriously, Mate, this is one of the best things anybody ever referred me to, And, bottom line for here and now, I can pretty much see it turning out that way.
Jay
December 28th, 2011
4:49 pm
Josef, I know you could see it happening. I can’t.
Anything predicated on the claim that a victorious Robert E. Lee would proclaim the end of slavery is more fantastic than any Star Wars movie. But I did think you’d enjoy it…. :>)
kayaker 71
December 28th, 2011
4:50 pm
What I really want to do is push granny’s wheelchair off the cliff after I cancel her Medicare and her Social Security payments. I want her to stand in line with her food stamps to buy dog food. If Granny can’t pull herself up by her bootstraps, she doesn’t deserve to be called an American. I want all Muslims deported from this country after all of those despicable Mexicans and other Latinos have been sent home. Then I want to reduce the income tax rate for all of my rich friends to 5% and let those “losers” who don’t pay any federal income tax pay more than Warren Buffet’s secretary. I want gun ports cut into the walls of my house so that when the Black invasion comes to my neighborhood, I will be prepared. Maybe if we could just get all of the white people in the neighborhood together, especially all of those with fully automatic AK-47s, before it happens, we will have an advantage. If all of this doesn’t work, then I think we should establish our own country where we don’t have to deal with all of those people who don’t work, have baby factories in their own welfare provided homes and refuse to follow Michelle’s edicts on losing weight. Guess that about does it for my Republican platform. Think I’ll do well in Iowa?
jconservative
December 28th, 2011
4:52 pm
From the Pledge:
“I believe that in order to properly protect the right to life of the vulnerable among us, every human being at every stage of development must be recognized as a person possessing the right to life in federal and state laws without exception and without compromise.”
Doesn’t this mean that every person in the US is entitled to whatever is necessary to maintain and protect his life? Like, for example, Obamacare? Or maybe better yet, a national single payer system? No matter if they are citizens or illegal aliens.
If I have the “right to life” and get sick and have no insurance the government will take care of me. Correct? It is stated in plain language, “without exception and without compromise.”
Socialism!
josef
December 28th, 2011
4:53 pm
ADAM
“Even in MISSISSIPPI they wouldn’t pass this thing!”
ESADI you ignorant twit! What do you know of the people of Mississippi? Obviously not very much to come in with that particular little piece of narrow-minded bigotry. And Granny’s Mississippi manners training prevent me from saying what I really thin.
DebbieDoRight
December 28th, 2011
4:54 pm
I’m glad to hear that Hawaii is paying for Secret Service and AirForce One and crew and all those little niceties like the early visit by Michelle and kiddies. We should thank Hawaii for thier kindness. Maybe the profits from hotel charges will offset their losses.
You know I’m trying to remember, but I just dont believe that I read a disparaging word against Dubya by Dusty when he was out campaigning and/or vacationing….has anyone else?
i also do believe I didn’t hear word one when the secret service had to be split in half to accomodate the twins going to two separate colleges, taking two separate vacations for spring break and/or coming home to visit the old folks at two separate times!!
Paul
December 28th, 2011
4:55 pm
Dusty
“’Im glad to hear that Hawaii is paying for Secret Service and AirForce …We should thank Hawaii”
Don’t forget to thank all the other states!
And…. no kidding here…. Gov Perry justified having the Texas taxpayers pay for his detail by saying “I’m going around telling the Texas story. It’ll be good for business.”
Something good may come out of this. Perhaps, just perhaps, Texas voters will be too embarrassed to reelect him.
josef
December 28th, 2011
4:55 pm
DSUTY
Take your “even in Mississippi” and choke on it, too!
TaxPayer
December 28th, 2011
4:57 pm
I see kayaker doesn’t want to change a thing.