This article first appeared online at NRO’s The Corner on October 21, 2011.
NRLC ‘Confident’ that Cain’s Pro-Life
By Katrina Trinko
The National Right to Life Committee has no concerns about Herman Cain’s commitment to the pro-life position.
“Herman Cain’s pro-life,” says David O’Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, noting that Cain has “clarified” the comments he made on CNN earlier this week about abortion.
“He addressed our convention last June,” Steen adds. “We are quite confident in his pro-life position. When he ran in the primary for senate some years back … he ran as a pro-life candidate then in Georgia. We’ve known of him for a number of years, and he’s always taken a pro-life position.”
Georgia Right to Life endorsed both Cain and one of his opponents in the Georgia senate primary in 2004.
UPDATE: However, another pro-life organization, the Susan B. Anthony List, is questioning Cain’s pro-life credentials.
“A candidate’s view of women and the unborn must be crystal clear to the pro-life voter, and Herman Cain’s confusing and fluid position on pro-life policy is unsettling,” said SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement.
“When the lives of millions of the unborn are at stake, what a presidential candidate would do to advance pro-life priorities must be stated clearly and unequivocally,” Dannenfelser added. “Mr. Cain’s signature on our pledge would remove any doubts about his pro-life commitments as president.”
Cain, along with Mitt Romney, has not signed the SBA List’s pro-life pledge. In June, when Cain announced he would not sign the pledge, he issued this statement to explain why:
I support right-to-life issues unequivocally and I adamantly support the first three aspects of the Susan B. Anthony pledge involving appointing pro-life judges, choosing pro-life cabinet members, and ending taxpayer-funded abortions.
However, the fourth requirement demands that I ‘advance’ the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As president, I would sign it, but Congress must advance the legislation.
I have been a consistent and unwavering champion of pro life issues. In no way does this singular instance of clarification denote an abandonment of the pro-life movement, but instead, is a testament to my respect for the balance of power and the role of the presidency.
