Santorum is possibly the most fervent top-tier anti-abortionist left in the presidential race. He firmly believes in the preservation of life. He has an unblemished 100% voting record for pro-life legislations. During his time as a member of the House of Representative and Senator for Pennsylvania, he voted anti-choice 99 times out of a hundred (House 27/27, Senate 72/73).
“...and I believe that, that any doctor who performs an abortion--that--I would advocate that any doctor that performs an abortion should be criminally charged for doing so. I don't--I've never supported criminalization of abortion for mothers, but I do for people who perform them. I believe that life is sacred...”
June 12, 2011, Meet The Press
“Not only have I been consistently pro-life, but I've taken the -- you know, I've not just taken the pledge, I've taken the bullets to go out there and fight for this and lead on those issues. And I think that's a factor that people should consider when you -- when you look, well, what is this president going to do when he comes to office? A lot of folks run for president as pro-life and then that issue gets shoved to the back burner. I will tell you that the issue of pro-life, the sanctity and dignity of every human life, not just at birth, not just on the issue of abortion, but with respect to the entire life, which I mentioned welfare reform and -- and the dignity of people at the end of life, those issues will be top priority issues for me to make sure that all life is respected and held with dignity.”
June 13, 2011, CNN Republican Presidential Debate, Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire
Federal ban on abortions
Santorum supports federal ban on abortions. In 1995, he authored the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and sponsored the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.
Roe v. Wade
Against.
“This weekend’s anniversary of Roe v. Wade reminds us of the very wreckage abortion has caused: over 50 million babies dead, based on a decision that holds that certain human life can be taken for any reason or no reason. In America we require a lengthy and litigious process involving dozens of people to take the life of a criminal who has done great harm to society — and at the same time grant one person the absolute right to determine whether an innocent child should be granted the rights of personhood and therefore life.”
January 24, 2011, Life Is A Civil Right, by Rick Santorum
Parental Notification and Consent
Santorum is in favor of parental notification and consent. He co-sponsored the 2006 Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (S.403).
Excerpts from the bill,
“Makes it an affirmative defense to a prosecution or civil action under this Act that a defendant: (1) reasonably believed that before the minor obtained the abortion, the required parental consent or notification or judicial authorization took place; or (2) was presented with documentation showing that a court waived parental notification requirements or authorized the minor's abortion.”
Authored by Senator John Ensign on February 16, 2005
Planned Parenthood
Santorum supports defunding Planned Parenthood and believes that Planned Parenthood has a hidden agenda behind their pro-choice stance.
"I can’t imagine any other organization with its roots as poisonous as the roots of Planned Parenthood getting federal funding of any kind. This is an organization that was founded on the eugenics movement, founded on racism… It's origins are horrific. And, you can say well, it's not that anymore. It’s not far from where it was in my opinion in its activities and its motivations."
Embryonic stem cell research
Santorum does not support embryonic stem cell research, citing,
“You must be against destroying human embryos to get embryonic stem cells. One of the things I guess was most disappointing is that we’ve seen over the last six months a whole bunch of scientific theories come forward as to how to actually get embryonic stem cells without destroying a human embryo. And in fact, I’ve been working on a bill with Senator Frist and Senator Enzi and Senator Isakson to try to put forward a funding proposal for the NIH to look at alternative ways to get these pluripotent cells, or these embryonic stem cells, without creating a human embryo and without then killing that embryo to get the cells. So, there are four or five different technologies that are potentially viable to get these cells, and I don’t think we need to go down this path.”
July 31, 2005, Santorum in an interview
