It Takes a Family, by Rick Santorum: on Abortion


Rick Santorum: FactCheck: No, female suicide & crime not worse under Roe

Abortion is a popular topic for Santorum, who also was off in 2005 when he claimed in a book that female suicides and crime were "much worse" after Roe v. Wade. Suicides by women actually went down by a third since the Supreme Court decision made abortion legal. Female suicides dropped from 6.5 per 100,000 women in 1973 to 4.1 in 2001, the most recent stats at the time, according to the CDC. As for crime, the Department of Justice's annual survey showed a drop in both property and violent crime since 1973. (For the record, the female suicide rate is still lower than 1973's--4.8 as of 2007. And property and violent crime have continued to drop.)
Source: FactCheck.org on "It Takes a Family" by Rick Santorum Feb 15, 2011

Barbara Boxer: Baby is born at birth, not at partial-birth

On Oct. 20, 1999, I had a colloquy with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA) about where to draw the line on partial birth abortion:

SANTORUM: If the baby's foot was inside the mother but the rest of the baby was outside, could that baby be killed?

BOXER: The baby is born when the baby is born. That is the answer to the question.

SANTORUM: I am asking for you to define for me what that is: the baby is being born.

BOXER: In the process of being born, to me it is obvious when a baby is born; to you it isn't obvious.

SANTORUM: Maybe you can make it obvious to me. What you are suggesting is if the baby's toe is still inside of the mother that baby can then still be killed?

BOXER: Absolutely not.

SANTORUM: OK. So if the baby's toe is in, you can't kill the baby. How about if the baby's foot is in? We are trying to draw a line here.

BOXER: I am not answering these questions.

Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.255-257 Apr 30, 2006

Hillary Clinton: Partial birth exceptions for life-threatening abnormalities

In 2003, Sen. Hillary Clinton [commented] about the anatomically correct drawings I used to demonstrate the partial birth abortion procedure:

CLINTON: The visual aids show a perfectly formed fetus, and that is misleading. We should have a chart that demonstrates the tragic abnormalities that confront women forced with this excruciatingly difficult decision.

SANTORUM: Do we consider a child who may have an abnormality to be less of a child?

CLINTON: Does the Senator's legislation make exceptions for serious life-threatening abnormalities or babies who are in such serious physical condition that they will not live outside the womb?

SANTORUM: No, if--

CLINTON: That is the point.

SANTORUM: Do you want to create a separation in the law between those children who are perfect and those children who are not? The Americans with Disabilities Act says we treat all of God's children the same.

CLINTON: I value every single life and every single person.

Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.258-261 Apr 30, 2006

Rick Santorum: Scientifically, an embryo is human from moment of conception

I was very much like most Americans and most nominal Catholics before I decided to enter public life. I didn't like the idea of abortion--I knew it was wrong, but I wasn't sure if it was the government's business to do anything about it. When I decided to run for public office in 1989, I was told that I had to "make up my mind on abortion."

Through both scientific reasoning and moral reasoning the answer was clear to me. Abortion was the taking of an innocent human life. Scientifically, the embryo is human from the moment of conception (it has a complete, unique human genetic code) and it is alive: therefore, it is literally a human life.

I looked at it one other way. Did I see the child in the womb as a person entitled to protection under the law, or as a property owned by the mother, with no rights until the moment she was physically separated from her mother? No, I couldn't see myself on the "mere property" side of this argument.

Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.239-240 Apr 30, 2006

Rick Santorum: 93% of abortions are post-conception birth control

When you hear an abortion supporter argue his or her position, nowhere do you hear that a baby's heart can be seen beating at three weeks. They appear to exhibit a whole range of typical baby behavior and moods.

Almost never do I hear about what is being chosen, other than the sterile words "terminating pregnancy." Nowhere do you hear that over 93% of abortions are performed on healthy mothers with healthy babies who were not the victim of rape or incest, which means that in the vast majority of cases abortion is actually post-conception birth control.

The advocates of abortion, like Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action League, teach that if you have to say anything about what is in the womb you should use dehumanizing terms like "product of conception," "embryo," & "fetal tissue." Or, if you must, fetus. Thanks to a lot of help from their allies in the news and entertainment media, they have turned the child in the womb into a NOBODY, and therefore "NOBODY gets hurt."

Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.253 Apr 30, 2006

Rick Santorum: Partial birth abortion allows killing baby if only toe is in

On Oct. 20, 1999, I had a colloquy with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA) about where to draw the line on partial birth abortion:

SANTORUM: If the baby's foot was inside the mother but the rest of the baby was outside, could that baby be killed?

BOXER: The baby is born when the baby is born. That is the answer to the question.

SANTORUM: I am asking for you to define for me what that is: the baby is being born.

BOXER: In the process of being born, to me it is obvious when a baby is born; to you it isn't obvious.

SANTORUM: Maybe you can make it obvious to me. What you are suggesting is if the baby's toe is still inside of the mother that baby can then still be killed?

BOXER: Absolutely not.

SANTORUM: OK. So if the baby's toe is in, you can't kill the baby. How about if the baby's foot is in? We are trying to draw a line here.

BOXER: I am not answering these questions.

Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.255-257 Apr 30, 2006

Rick Santorum: Partial birth abortion is not used only for abnormalities

In 2003, Sen. Hillary Clinton [commented] about the anatomically correct drawings I used to demonstrate the partial birth abortion procedure:

CLINTON: The visual aids show a perfectly formed fetus, and that is misleading. We should have a chart that demonstrates tragic abnormalities.

SANTORUM: Do we consider a child that may not live long, or may have an abnormality, to be less of a child? Don't those who are not perfect don't even deserve the opportunity to live?

CLINTON: Does the Senator's legislation make exceptions for serious life-threatening abnormalities?

SANTORUM: No, if--

CLINTON: That is the point.

SANTORUM: If you want to create a separation in the law between those children who are perfect and those children who are not--

SANTORUM: If a child is not perfect, that child can be aborted under any circumstances. But if that child is perfect, we are going to protect that child more. The Americans with Disabilities Act says we treat all of God's children the sam

Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.258-261 Apr 30, 2006

  • The above quotations are from It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, by Rick Santorum.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Abortion.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Rick Santorum on Abortion.
2016 Presidential contenders on Abortion:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
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Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
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Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
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Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
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Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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