Former Governor Huckabee (R-AR) is unapologetically anti-choice. He believes abortion should be legal only when the life or health of the woman is in peril and that organizations that provide or advocate for abortion should not receive federal dollars. He has devoted an entire section of his exploratory campaign web site to "The Sanctity of Life." The page covers his political triumphs and challenges related to reproductive rights telling us that he "first became politically active because of abortion, when I helped pass Arkansas' Unborn Child Amendment, which requires the state to do whatever it legally can to protect life."
Huckabee lists among his legislative "accomplishments" as Governor of Arkansas: banning partial birth abortion, requiring parental notification and informed consent before having an abortion, and requiring that a woman be told her baby will experience pain during an abortion.
Governor Huckabee is also opposed to federal funding for embryonic stem cell research saying it is "wrong to create a life in order to save a life."
In addition, Huckabee reconciles his anti-choice/pro-death penalty position by saying that the death penalty is the result of a judicial process whereby the person in question is deemed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; whereas a woman who decides to have an abortion is ending the life of an innocent and defenseless child.
While Huckabee does not have a federal voting record on reproductive justice issues, he has clearly stated that the day Roe v. Wade is appealed would be a good day and that he supports "a constitutional amendment written specifically to protect the right to human life. My convictions regarding the sanctity of human life are clear and consistent."
Mike Huckabee explains his abortion position:
On Meet the Press, Huckabee stated, “I think if a doctor knowingly took the life of an unborn child for money, and that's why he was doing it, yeah, I think you would find some way to sanction that doctor. I don't know that you'd put him in prison, but there's something to me untoward about a person who has committed himself to healing people and to making people alive who would take money to take an innocent life and to make that life dead.”
Huckabee supports money for preventative health care:
