Pro-Life Mike Huckabee Launches GOP Presidential Campaign: I Will Never Yield on Abortion

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 5, 2015   |   12:17PM   |  

Mike Huckabee, the pro-life former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate is back with a second attempt to capture the GOP nomination for president. Huckabee launched his campaign today at a rally in his hometown of Hope, Arkansas.

Declaring Tuesday that he can bring “the kind of change that truly can get America from hope to higher ground,” Huckabee entered the Republican presidential contest just a day after pro-life candidate Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson declared their candidacy.

“It would be perfectly fitting that I would announce here that I am a candidate for president of the United States of America,” Huckabee told hundreds of supporters in a reference to a potential general election matchup against Hillary Clinton.

“I governed in a state that was the most lopsided and partisan in the country,” he told supporters. “No Republican governor had more Democrats and fewer Republicans. I challenged the deeply entrenched political machine that ran this state. It was tough sledding, but I learned how to govern and how to lead.”

Huckabee has been strongly and consistently pro-life over the years and has repeatedly said abortion is his number one political concern.

“For me this is an issue that — as I’ve said before — it transcends all of the political issues,” he’s said. “I’ve often said I would gladly lose an election before I would ever yield on the issue of the sanctity of human life.”

He’s also been outspoken against those who say the Republican Party should downplay pro-life issues.

“This is absolutely heartbreaking. And that one of our Republican ‘leaders’ would suggest this truce, even more so,” Huckabee said at the time. “Governor Daniels is a personal friend and a terrific Governor, and I’m very disappointed that he would think that pro-life and pro-family activists would just lie down.”

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He said pro-life issues “are not bargaining chips nor or they political issues. They are moral issues.”

“I didn’t get involved in politics just to lower taxes and deficit spending though I believe in both and have done it as a governor. But I want to stay true to the basic premises of our civilization,” he said.

Previously, leading pro-life advocates have applauded Huckabee for his pro-life record.

“Governor Huckabee has been a longtime pro-life leader and we are thrilled to have him speak,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “The Governor’s genuine heart for children and their mothers has made him one of the most articulate and compassionate leaders in our movement. From the Arkansas governor’s mansion, to primetime on FOX News, and through works like The Gift of Life film, Mike Huckabee is continually seeking new platforms to advocate for the unborn. Throughout his political career, he has remained true to his convictions.”

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