Posted on 08/12/2011 1:55:22 PM PDT by NYer
AMES, Iowa, August 12, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum elicited cheers from a crowd in Ames, Iowa during the first primary debate there Thursday night for not backing down in defense of the right to life of children conceived in rape.
One moderator, Fox News host Byron York, asked Santorum: Polls have shown that large majorities of Americans support some exceptions for abortion. Are your views too much, even for many conservatives to support?
“You know, the Supreme Court of the United States in a recent case said that a man who committed rape could not be killed, would not be subjected to the death penalty, yet the child conceived as a result of that rape could be,” replied the former senator.
“That sounds to me like a country that doesn’t have its morals correct. That child did nothing wrong,” he said to cheers and applause. “That child is an innocent victim.”
“We in America should be big enough to try to surround ourselves and help women in those terrible situations who have been traumatized already. To put them through another trauma of an abortion is enough,” he concluded. “And so I would absolutely stand and say, one violence is enough.”
This year’s Gallup survey of America’s attitude toward abortion found the majority believing the procedure to be morally wrong, 51 percent to 39 percent. Nonetheless, as in previous years, a marked plurality supported keeping the procedure legal under “certain circumstances.”
Federal law currently allows taxpayer funding of abortion of unborn children conceived in rape or incest, or whose gestation threatens the life of the mother.
I was impressed with Santorum’s answer.
He had several strong moments at the debate.
I believe in the usual exceptions but I respect the Senator for his courage.
Rick Perry, who has hidden out, talking privately to elite power brokers and money bundlers, risking nothing publicly while others take their case before the peasants and take flak from the MSM.
God bless you, Rick! Women who are victims of rape will actually heal more thoroughly if they do not retaliate in the violent act of abortion.
Of the “establishment” candidates, Santorum is the one I would find it easiest to vote for.
The reason that the majority of people support the "3 exceptions" is because things are more convenient that way. That convenience costs innocent lives just as any other abortion does. What Rebecca Kiessling does more than anything else is no longer put the 3 exceptions "out of sight and out of mind."
Abortion will be eliminated once it is no longer out of sight and out of mind.
BS.
No woman should have to re-live the experience of being raped every time she looks at a child that was forced upon her.
Flame away....I won’t respond.
Look at that pretty girl up-thread. Should she have been killed for something she had nothing to do with? when the perpetrator is probably going to be paroled in a few years?
Why do you assume that the memories of the violent act cannot be overcome by the love for a precious, innocent new life? That is why we have God and need God.
I'm sure that will do wonders for her emotional health.
Panaxanax: the ‘choice’ isn’t kill the child vs. Looking at the child and remembering a rape. You may have even heard about another alternative. It’s called ‘adoption.’
I had never heard Santorum very much before last night. He was off my radar for some reason.
I came away from last night with a much more favorable opinion of him.
I have no idea of any RINO tendancies he may have.
He sounded conservative to me.
Anyone know of any problems with his record?
I saw most of the debate. I liked Michele Bachmann, whom I’ve admired for a while now and I am with her on the TEA Party fight for America.
I have liked Herman Cain since the first time I heard him speak.
I’d have to give Santorum my number 3 spot, out of all the candidates on the stage last night. That’s pretty high considering I had a neutral opinion of him before.
Pawlenty was a total ass! He blew it bigtime. He had no chance anyway, but now he’ll be known as a jerk!
It was an interesting debate.
I hated the snotty panel of inquisitors. They get a FAIL.
Lot’s of people feel the same way as Perry.
If a single woman had suddenly discovered that miraculously—she was somehow pregnant, that Baby would probably be aborted today. Three guesses Who that Baby was. 1st 2 don’t count...
In anticipation of such a response, I intentionally posted a link to Rebecca Kiessling's web site, where she addresses your statement with personal clarity.
We've all heard someone say:
"I'm pro-life, well, except in cases of rape . . ." or
"I'm pro-choice, especially in cases of rape !"
Have you ever considered how really insulting it is to say to someone, "I think your mother should have been able to abort you."? It's like saying, "If I had my way, you'd be dead right now." And that is the reality with which I live every time someone says they are pro-choice or pro-life "except in cases of rape" because I absolutely would have been aborted if it had been legal in Michigan when I was an unborn child, and I can tell you that it hurts. But I know that most people don't put a face to this issue -- for them abortion is just a concept -- with a quick cliche, they sweep it under the rug and forget about it. I do hope that, as a child conceived in rape, I can help to put a face, a voice, and a story to this issue.
In reply, some have said to me, "So does that mean you're pro-rape?" Though ludicrous, I'll address it because I understand that they aren't thinking things through. There is a huge moral difference because I did exist, and my life would have been ended because I would have been killed by a brutal abortion. You can only be killed and your life can only be devalued once you exist. Being thankful that my life was protected in no way makes me pro-rape.
Thank you to my 100% pro-life heroes!
Rebecca
Flame away....I wont respond.
No need to flame. Rebecca's response is sufficient.
No woman should have to re-live the experience of being raped every time she looks at a child . . .
“and remembers aborting her own” is what I thought you were going to end the statement with.
53,000,000 reported abortions in the US since 1973.
Fact: The result is a lot of depressed and traumatized women (and men) out there, including those who have the added trauma of rape. Then there’s the infertility and the breast cancer associated.
Rick Santorum is correct in his assertions.
Silent no more, Priests for Life are just two organizations from where any such statistic is available.
Bachmann was also good with her assertion that abortion is a non negotiable issue.
Else, it's simply murder for convenience. The baby didn't do anything.
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