Politics & Government

Four GOP Candidates Attend Huckabee Pro-Life Event

The candidates each had five to seven minutes to discuss their stance on pro-life issues. Gingrich, Bachmann, Santorum and Perry attended the Des Moines event. The night's standing ovations went to Huckabee and Santorum.

Iowa's GOP base still loves Mike Huckabee.

Four years after he surprised pundits and pollsters by winning the Iowa caucuses, Huckabee was in Des Moines to host an anti-abortion event. Four of this election cycle's GOP presidential candidates cleared their schedules to speak at Wednesday night's gathering.

Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee applauded Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry for speaking at the premiere of the film "The Gift of Life" at Hoyt Sherman Place.

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"It is significant that all four of these candidates here tonight have endorsed life," Huckabee told the crowd of more than 1,000 people, who gave him a standing ovation.

Huckabee, who serves as a FOX News host, premiered the 60-minute documentary produced by Citizens United, and provided a forum for the candidates to discuss their stance on pro-life issues.

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All GOP presidential candidates were invited to the event, organizers said, but Ron Paul and Mitt Romney had other engagements on the East Coast.

The candidates may have earned brownie points with Huckabee for attending the event, but that doesn't mean he's any closer to making an endorsement. That's something he told Yahoo News he may not do during the primary process.

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"They all really said the same thing," said Donna Thompson, 68, of Paton. "The thing is the focus on life."

The candidates each proclaimed they would end taxpayer-financed abortion, defund Planned Parenthood clinics and work to advance the cause of life.

Santorum, who received a standing ovation, and Bachmann played on personal experience while talking about fighting for the sanctity of life.

Santorum, who has been polling at about 6 percent, recently received an from Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz. The former Pennsylvania senator recalled a night in 1998 when he spoke on the Senate floor opposing partial birth abortion for an hour and a half, telling the story of a mother who fought for the life of her son.

While his story didn't sway the two votes he needed, he did receive an email from a college student in Michigan. The student told Santorum his girlfriend had changed her mind about having an abortion after hearing his speech as it aired on CSPAN.

"In my perfect vision, I was a failure, but God had better vision," he said. "Go out and fight the fight, be faithful, you may not see in your lifetime the fruits and seeds you've planted."

Bachmann, who won the Iowa Straw Poll in August but has only seen a downward shift in the polls, recalled the miscarriage she suffered 12 weeks into a pregnancy.

"It happened while with a doctor in a hospital," she said. "He placed that beautiful child on a towel in my hand. That baby was perfect. I know without a shadow of a doubt that all babies are perfect. There is nothing God creates that isn't perfect."

Gingrich, who's enjoying being at the top of the most recent polls, spoke of the inalienable rights afforded to Americans.

"The basis of this country is the Declaration of Independence," he said. "Your rights come from God, each and every one of you personally. They are unalienable ... that means defining when you became a person."

Rick Perry played up his role helping to defund Planned Parenthood.

"Since then, there has been 12 Planned Parenthood clinics that have shut down," he said. "This week, President Obama declared Texas has violated federal law. If Washington, D.C., is looking for a fight, they found one."

According to IowaPolitics.com, about a dozen people protested Wednesday outside the screening of the documentary. They chanted things like, “Not the church. Not the state. Women must decide our fate,” as well as “My body. My voice. I will make my own choice.”

Before Wednesday's event, the four candidates had each signed some type of pledge to end abortion.

The Susan B. Anthony List, which had a part in "The Gift of Life", announced in August that Perry joined candidates Bachmann, Santorum and Gingrich in signing the Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge.

Bachmann was the first candidate to sign the The Family Leader pledge in July vowing to ban abortion among other issues, such as gay marriage and pornography.

According to a report by The Hill, Gingrich, Santorum and Bachmann each signed Personhood USA 2012 pledge to support a “human life amendment” to the Constitution and states that “every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, and is endowed by our Creator with the unalienable right to life.”

While Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are ahead in the most recent polls, it's still anyone's game, 


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