Santorum Fundraising Email Blasts Cain’s Abortion Comments

Politics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 20, 2011   |   5:47PM   |   Washington, DC

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum wasted no time in pounding on the controversial comments fellow GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain made on abortion in an interview last night. Now, the former senator has sent out a fundraising email looking to build support off of what he calls Cain’s newfound “pro-choice position.”

As LifeNews.com reported, Cain gave an interview to CNN in which he used typical “pro-choice” language about government not making abortion decisions for women that applied, depending on the listener, to either abortions in the case of rape and incest or abortion policy in general. Either way, pro-life advocates have been disappointed today following the comments and they have called on Cain to clarify the comments — which he did in a short message on twitter later in the day saying he is “100% pro-life.”

Santorum responded, saying he doesn’t consider Cain pro-life any longer.

“Herman Cain said that he believes life begins at conception, but that it’s up to the individual to decide whether or not to terminate that life. And I find it gravely troubling that Herman believes it’s a life, but that he doesn’t consider it a life worth fighting for,” he said. “As the author of the partial birth abortion ban and other pro-life pieces of legislation, this is the exact mentality myself and other true pro-life advocates fought against. In fact, Herman’s pro-choice position is similar to those held by John Kerry, Barack Obama and many others on the liberal left. No, Herman, it is not ‘whatever they decide,’this is an innocent human life.  It is unconscionable for Herman to run for the nomination of the Party that stands in defense of Life while showing disregard for the sanctity of Life.  You cannot be both personally against abortion while condoning it – you can’t have it both ways.  We must defend the defenseless, period.”

Now, LifeNews has received the text of a new fundraising email the Santorum campaign sent on the former senator’s behalf:

Probably like me, you were absolutely floored by what Herman Cain said on CNN last night.

After acknowledging that he believes life begins at conception, Herman Cain went on to say it’s up to the individual to decide whether or not to kill an innocent unborn child. That means that while he believes it is a life, he doesn’t consider it a life worth fighting for. As the author of the legislation that banned partial birth abortions forever, I am stunned that someone running for the Republican nomination for president would have this position.

In fact, Herman Cain’s pro-choice position is similar to those held by John Kerry, Barack Obama and many others on the liberal left. You cannot be both personally against abortion while condoning it – you can’t have it both ways. We must defend the defenseless, period.

We can disagree about tax policy. We can disagree about government regulations. Those are fair issues to debate. But we must all stand unified in defense of the defenseless unborn.

If you stand with me in defense of life, please make an immediate contribution of $25 to my campaign so I can continue to stand up for the unborn.

Expect Santorum to raise the issue of abortion in the next Republican presidential debate. The election had been one where many of the candidates were applauded for their pro-life views and the issue of abortion had not yet played as prominent a role as it had in 2008 when pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani campaigned for the nomination. That may change now, although most pro-life advocates and political observers disagree with Santorum and say Cain is pro-life.