Santorum says Obama health law encourages abortions
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum pulled into debates over prenatal testing, contraception, abortion and other social issues as the leader in GOP polls.
Santorum says Obama health law encourages abortions
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
While he seeks to emphasize his coal miner grandpa and industrial tax policy in the fight for Michigan and the Midwest, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is finding it hard to avoid the social issues that have defined his career as one of the nation’s most prominent conservative cultural warriors.
On CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, Santorum criticized President Obama’s health-care law for requiring health insurance plans to cover prenatal tests that are used to detect fetal abnormalities and thus “encourage abortion.” He has expressed the same idea in recent campaign appearances.
“The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions,” Santorum told host Bob Schieffer. He said he was referring specifically to amniocentesis, in which fluid from the amniotic sac is drawn to test chromosomes for birth defects.
“Amniocentesis does, in fact, result more often than not in this country in abortions,” Santorum said. “That is a fact.”
Americans should have the right to have the the prenatal testing done, he said. “but to have the government force people to provide it free, to me, is a bit loaded.” The former Pennsylvania, author of a federal ban on late term abortions, told Schieffer that he believes some forms of prenatal testing should be provided free, including sonograms, as well as general prenatal care.
Santorum and his wife, Karen, have a 3-year-old daughter Bella, with the genetic disorder Trisomy 18.
In response to a question about whether Obama “looks down” on the disabled, Santorum cited the president’s support for access to legal late-term abortions.
“Well, the president supported partial-birth abortion, and partial-birth abortion is a procedure used almost exclusively to kill children late in pregnancy when they’ve been found out to be disabled,” Santorum said.
He added: “The president has a very bad record on the issue of abortion and children who are disabled who are in the womb. I think this simply is a continuation of that idea.”
On the show, Santorum also clarified remarks he had made Saturday during a Christian conservative conference in Ohio, where he said that Obama’s policies were based on a “phony theology, a theology not found in the Bible.”
Obama adviser Robert Gibbs said that Santorum had “stepped over the line” in criticizing the president’s religious faith.
On Sunday, Santorum said he accepts that Obama is a Christian, and his remarks were meant to refer to what he said was the president’s secularized policies and support for “extreme environmentalism,” in which the earth is “elevated” over mankind.
- Why don't you enlighten us?
— prenestino - What's interesting reading these comments...no one is arguing the stats....Rick is right— asheehy
- People! People! ....... We are not going to turn back the clock on abortion or birth control devices. Obama knows this and so does everyone else. I think Rick Santorum is just trying to convey his respect for life, whether in the womb or out of the womb.
Obama and his friends only care about life if they are old enough to vote Democrat.— RufusG - The issue is a President dictating that everyone must have medical insurance and that all employers, including religious ones, must pay for insurance covering services and supplies which are contrary to the employer's religious beliefs. The first amendment protects freedom of religion. Obama has other ideas. — Falls Ed
- What a guy...he's a theologian and a scientist. How fortunate we would be to have him running our lives.— ChescoMom
- Just want to ask why someone else should ay for your contraception? those of us who pay our own insurance will pay higher remiun=ms n other places to pay for your " free " contraception. Insurance companies don't provide services for free and everyone winds up paying more for you freebies--typical Obozo double speak.— crystalrainbowspirit1
- Hello, anybody in there? We're talking about people who have health insurance not being charged extra for contraception. Get it? They already are paying for health insurance. They are not getting it for free, just not to pay additional co-pays or deductibles. Boy, no wonder conservatives are losing, because they either don't undwerstand the policy or they continue to just make stuff up. BTW, santaliban and the other nutjobs won't admit that most married couples use birth control. Imagine that. Yet, ricky wants us not ever to have sex unless we plan on having a child. Don't tell me I'm wrong-read what he says about sex. That's why he is no different than the mullahs and the taliban and any other religious nuts. — mike l
- mike, those are the words of someone who is still covered by their parents' medical insurance. — Falls Ed
- mike I you omitted the fact that the dispensing of contraceptives LOWERS overall health costs. They are much cheaper than costs of unwanted pregnancies. People use contraceptives so that they can have children after they get their education and have the means to perform as excellent parents. It is unbelievable that we have to discuss this topic still. — prenestino
- @ Bush destroyed America-perhaps you can tell us just how Obozo and his Com munist agenda is going to fix whtever it is that you claim Bush did? Just remember for everything free that Obozo talks about someone has to pay the freight, and the limited amount from any tax hikes on the wealthy will not make it possible despite the Com mie, class warfare propaganda. Read, read, read, think, think, think---reason, reason, reason.— crystalrainbowspirit1
- Of course they are not the same or else this article wouldn't have been written. Republicans need to do what Obama does which is talk in generalities, don't tell the whole truth and stop with all this ad-libbing and off the cuff chatting because columnists like Fitzgerald will be all over it. They don't touch Obama because he's the incumbent and they are in his corner so it's all about how Republicans stack up against Obama.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- So, Santorum would rather that his wife were dead than that she could have gotten an amnio when she was pregnant with that baby that she aborted. Because, you know, it isn't abortion, or there's always some reason why the rules you would impose on others should not apply to you, when it's your own life.— HolidayinCambodia
- Avoid, repubs aleady talk in half truths or, mostly, untruths. All this talk about the BC policy from repubs is a load of garbage. The repubs are losing the battle, so they latch onto another losing proposition. Yes, losing, because most women use birth control and getting it cheaper through the insurance they already pay for, repeat, already pay for and that includes most married women, they will gladly vote for Obama instead a hack like santaliban.— mike l
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
