Republican Debate: Huckabee Talks Pro-Life, Romney and McCain Judges

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 31, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Republican Debate: Huckabee Talks Pro-Life, Romney and McCain Judges Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 31,
2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee expanded on his pro-life views during the Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night. His opponents John McCain and Mitt Romney discussed their views on the kinds of judges they would appoint if given the chance to name nominees to the Supreme Court.

Huckabee said he thinks it’s important for the Republican Party to “talk about why the issue of right-to-life is important.”

“For many of us, this is not a political issue; this is an issue of principle and conviction. And it goes to the heart of who we are as a country,” Huckabee said.

“If we value each other as human beings and believe that everybody has equal worth, and that that intrinsic value is not affected by net worth, or ancestry, or last name, or job description, or ability, or disability, then the issue of the sanctity of human life is far bigger than just being anti-abortion,” Huckabee explained. “It’s about being pro-life.”

Meanwhile, McCain and Romney addressed a question about whether Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who repeatedly voted to uphold Roe v. Wade and unlimited abortion, was a good selection.

“The judges I would appoint are along the lines of Justices Roberts and Alito, who have a proven record of strict interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America. I’m not going to second-guess President Reagan,” McCain said.

Romney agreed but added the names of two justices who pro-life advocates support because they have indicated in their decisions that Roe should be reversed.

“I would approve justices — I would have favored justices like Roberts and Alito, Scalia and Thomas,” Romney said.

“Ilike justices that follow the Constitution, do not make law from the bench. I would have much rather had a justice of that nature,” Romney added.

Going back to Huckabee’s comments on abortion, the former governor also said that being pro-life is about “exercising that deep conviction held by our founding fathers that all of us are equal and no one is more equal than another, recognizing that once we ever decide that some people are more equal or less equal than others, then we start moving that line, and it may include us some day.”

“And that’s why for many of us — and me included. Let me be very clear: I’m pro-life. I value every human being. And I would always make every decision always on the side of life every time I could, without equivocation,” Huckabee concluded.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul also answered the judicial question and indicated he would have opposed O’Connor.

“I wouldn’t have appointed her, because I would have looked for somebody that I would have seen as a much stricter constitutionalist,” he said.