The video: Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his conservative credentials on display during a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, out-hardlining many of his rivals by restating his long-held belief that abortion should be banned, even in cases of rape and incest. (See the video below.) The former Pennsylvania senator also said that doctors who perform abortions should face criminal charges. "I believe that life should be protected at the moment it is a human life," Santorum said. "And at conception it is biologically human, and it's alive... it should be a person under the Constitution."
The reaction: Santorum is going to scare people with his "stunningly maximalist positions on abortion," says Rosie Gray at ThinkProgress. Everybody knows about his "over-the-top conservatism," but he's now staked out a "totally untenable" position that's even "at odds with the Supreme Court's most conservative members." I don't find it untenable, says Mary Kochan at Catholic Lane. If anything, Santorum should be more forceful. Abortion is "the number one make or break issue for any candidate," and Santorum should pull no punches when saying that a fetus is a "separate human person." Watch the video:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
China’s burgeoning coffee cultureUnder The Radar Local chains are thriving as young middle-class consumers turn away from tea
-
Obamacare: Why premiums are rocketingFeature The rise is largely due to the Dec. 31 expiration of pandemic-era ‘enhanced’ premium subsidies, which are at the heart of the government shutdown
-
Ultra-processed AmericaFeature Highly processed foods make up most of our diet. Is that so bad?
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardonTalking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidentsThe Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are US billionaires backing?The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
