NBC Presses Santorum on Abortion, Contraception, and Electability
As GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum appeared as a guest on Thursday's Today show on NBC, substitute co-host Savannah Guthrie focused the interview on the former Pennsylvania Senator's views on abortion and contraception, and whether he would be acceptable to "middle of the road voters." (Video below)
After her first question dealt with whether Santorum would just be the latest candidate to surge and then fade, the remaining three questions she asked focused on whether his social conservatism would appeal to mainstream voters.
Below is video of the relevant portion of the interview along with a transcript of all of Guthrie's questions from the Thursday, December 29, Today show on NBC:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Well, we've seen this surge in the latest poll. You are now in third place. There is really just one person who predicted this all along - you. I guess the question now, though, is there have been so many frontrunners.
RICK SANTORUM: My wife, hold on, hold on, my wife, too. My wife predicted this, too. Not just me.
GUTHRIE: Fair enough. Outside of the Santorums, how can you be sure you're not just the latest frontrunner du jour. I mean, there have been five or six of them. [SANTORUM]
At the same time, you have campaigned in Iowa tirelessly really tailoring your message to social conservatives in Iowa, but does that message, does your campaign have viability outside of Iowa, in New Hampshire, with mainstream voters? [SANTORUM]
Yeah, but, Senator, you yourself have said you will not make these social issues backburner issues. You want them to be front and center. Your views on abortion are well known. You make no exception for abortion in the case of rape or incest. Other Republican candidates have now adopted that view. But somewhat lesser known are your views on contraception. You have said it is not okay, that it's dangerous, and you've said you're the only presidential candidate willing to talk about your views against contraception. For voters not familiar with you, what are they? [SANTORUM]
You know as well as anybody else, having run in Pennsylvania - won a couple of times, but also lost - that the general election will come down to those middle of the road voters - moderate, persuadable, independent voters. Many of them are women. Should Republicans sizing up your candidate today be concerned about this issue of electability should you be the nominee against Barack Obama? [SANTORUM]
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Comments
Fight Back --- What is so appealing about abortion?
Submitted by libBuster on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 10:57am.
I wish one of these conservatives would ask Savannah (who supposedly finished first in the Arizona bar exam) --
Okay
Submitted by iFight on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 10:59am.
But what is so scary about contraception?
Maybe Santorum just doesn't like the FEEL of condoms.
He's Catholic. That's why he
Submitted by Soldat44 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:27am.
He's Catholic. That's why he feels the way he does about contraception...and he's not alone on that issue.
No reason to be a smart ass about it.
An opinion based rule
Submitted by iFight on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:35am.
I don't know the exact passage that speaks against condoms, but perhaps you can link that.
Sure no
Submitted by Soldat44 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:36pm.
Sure no problem:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm
Also;
CCC 2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).
CCC 2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil: Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. . . . The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.
Also;
http://www.concernedcatholics.org/birthcontrol.htm
Biblical link?
Submitted by iFight on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:47pm.
I believe that is what I requested. Catholic priests decided this, God did not.
Really? Genesis 38:8-10
Submitted by Soldat44 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 1:46pm.
Really?
Genesis 38:8-10 -
Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” And Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so it came about that when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground, in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, so He took his life also.
'Onan must have been a malicious and incorrigible scoundrel. This is a most disgraceful sin. . . . We call it unchastity, yes, a Sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her; that is, he lies with her and copulates, and when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive. Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed ' Martin Luther (Commentary on Genesis 38:8-10)
Genesis 1:27-28
Genesis 9:1
Malachi 2:14-15
1 Timothy 2:15
Gen 1:28, 9:1,7; 35:11 - from the beginning, the Lord commands us to be fruitful ("fertile") and multiply. A husband and wife fulfill God's plan for marriage in the bringing forth of new life, for God is life itself.
Gen. 28:3 - Isaac's prayer over Jacob shows that fertility and procreation are considered blessings from God.
Gen. 38:8-10 - Onan is killed by God for practicing contraception (in this case, withdrawal) and spilling his semen on the ground.
Gen. 38:11-26 - Judah, like Onan, also rejected God's command to keep up the family lineage, but he was not killed.
Deut. 25:7-10 - the penalty for refusing to keep up a family lineage is not death, like Onan received. Onan was killed for wasting seed.
Gen. 38:9 - also, the author's usage of the graphic word "seed," which is very uncharacteristic for Hebrew writing, further highlights the reason for Onan's death.
Exodus 23:25-26; Deut. 7:13-14 - God promises blessings which include no miscarriages or barrenness. Children are blessings from God, and married couples must always be open to God's plan for new life with every act of marital intimacy.
Lev.18:22-23;20:13 - wasting seed with non-generative sexual acts warrants death. Many Protestant churches, which have all strayed from the Catholic Church, reject this fundamental truth (few Protestants and Catholics realize that contraception was condemned by all of Christianity - and other religions - until the Anglican church permitted it in certain cases at the Lambeth conference in 1930. This opened the floodgates of error).
Lev. 21:17,20 - crushed testicles are called a defect and a blemish before God. God reveals that deliberate sterilization and any other methods which prevent conception are intrinsically evil.
Deut. 23:1 - whoever has crushed testicles or is castrated cannot enter the assembly. Contraception is objectively sinful and contrary, not only to God's Revelation, but the moral and natural law.
Deut. 25:11-12 - there is punishment for potential damage to the testicles, for such damage puts new life at risk. It, of course, follows that vasectomies, which are done with willful consent, are gravely contrary to the natural law.
1 Chron. 25:5 - God exalts His people by blessing them with many children. When married couples contracept, they are declaring "not your will God, but my will be done."
Psalm 127:3-5 - children are a gift of favor from God and blessed is a full quiver. Married couples must always be open to God's precious gift of life. Contraception, which shows a disregard for human life, has lead to the great evils of abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide.
Hosea 9:11; Jer. 18:21 - God punishes Israel by preventing pregnancy. Contraception is a curse, and married couples who use contraception are putting themselves under the same curse.
Mal. 2:14 - marriage is not a contract (which is a mere exchange of property or services). It is a covenant, which means a supernatural exchange of persons. Just as God is three in one, so are a husband and wife, who become one flesh and bring forth new life, three in one. Marital love is a reflection of the Blessed Trinity.
Mal. 2:15 - What does God desire? Godly offspring. What is contraception? A deliberate act against God's will. With contraception, a couple declares, "God may want an eternal being created with our union, but we say no." Contraception is a grave act of selfishness.
Matt. 19:5-6 - Jesus said a husband and wife shall become one. They are no longer two, but one, just as God is three persons, yet one. The expression of authentic marital love reintegrates our bodies and souls to God, and restores us to our original virginal state (perfect integration of body and soul) before God.
Matt. 19:6; Eph. 5:31 - contraception prevents God's ability to "join" together. Just as Christ's love for the Church is selfless and sacrificial, and a husband and wife reflect this union, so a husband and wife's love for each other must also be selfless and sacrificial. This means being open to new life.
Acts 5:1-11 - Ananias and Sapphira were slain because they withheld part of a gift. Fertility is a gift from God and cannot be withheld.
Rom.1:26-27 - sexual acts without the possibility of procreation is sinful. Self-giving love is life-giving love, or the love is a lie. The unitive and procreative elements of marital love can never be divided, or the marital love is also divided, and God is left out of the marriage.
1 Cor. 6:19-20 - the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; thus, we must glorify God in our bodies by being open to His will.
1 Cor. 7:5 - this verse supports the practice of natural family planning ("NFP"). Married couples should not refuse each other except perhaps by agreement for a season, naturally.
Gal. 6:7-8 - God is not mocked for what a man sows. If to the flesh, corruption. If to the Spirit, eternal life.
Eph. 5:25 - Paul instructs husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, by giving his entire body to her and holding nothing back. With contraception, husbands tell their wives, I love you except your fertility, and you can have me except for my fertility. This love is a lie because it is self-centered, and not self-giving and life-giving.
Eph. 5:29-31; Phil. 3:2 - mutilating the flesh (e.g., surgery to prevent conception) is gravely sinful. Many Protestant churches reject this most basic moral truth.
1 Tim. 2:15 - childbearing is considered a "work" through which women may be saved by God's grace.
Deut. 22:13-21 – these verses also show that God condemns pre-marital intercourse. The living expression of God’s creative love is reserved for a sacramental marriage between one man and one woman.
Rev. 9:21; 21:8; 22:15; Gal. 5:20 - these verses mention the word "sorcery." The Greek word is "pharmakeia" which includes abortifacient potions such as birth control pills. These pharmakeia are mortally sinful. Moreover, chemical contraception does not necessarily prevent conception, but may actually kill the child in the womb after conception has occurred (by preventing the baby from attaching to the uterine wall). Contraception is a lie that has deceived millions, but the Church is holding her arms open wide to welcome back her children who have strayed from the truth.
And yet
Submitted by iFight on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 2:22pm.
Not a single Biblical quote mentioning contraception.
Waste of time. More so yours than mine.
Wait, how can that be?
Submitted by bkeyser on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 2:47pm.
With Trojans being so prevalent during that time. You know, it's one thing to be an ass, it's another to revel in it. Pun, intended.
Touche, BK!
Submitted by Blonde on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 2:55pm.
:) (to coin a phrase)
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
I actually sort of agreed with you at first
Submitted by shawn. on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 2:56pm.
but now that the other poster backed up his point, you are flailing. Not very stealth this time Teddy.
I wonder...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 10:08pm.
...if we have the equivalent of a "mercy rule" in these threads.
Time to "run out the clock" on iFight.
Nice job, Soldat44!!!
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Finally!
Submitted by iFight on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 11:02am.
After a full 24 hours, the winner for providing the Biblical quote regarding contraception is...
Okay, no answers yet. Let's move on, but you are all free to provide an answer should you find, in God's own words, why God is against condoms and other forms of contraception.
Ted you are not going to win this one
Submitted by shawn. on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 12:50pm.
the poster clearly pointed out where the Bible says we should not have sex just for fun, which is exactly what condoms are for is it not? Stop being dense.
Amazing how people want
Submitted by Soldat44 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:48pm.
Amazing how people want others to do the research that they are too lazy to do themselves...
Normally it works this way
Submitted by iFight on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:56pm.
One person makes a claim
Another person questions that claim
The first person must prove his claim
There is nothing in the Bible about contraception. It is merely the opinion and position of the Catholic Church.
Wow
Submitted by Blonde on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 2:08pm.
Must s**k being you.
You've posted on three threads so far, been ignored totally one one thread, and been wiped around the floor on two others. Soldat just made mincemeat out of your whiny little statements.
Too bad, so sad, now run back to DKos and play with your peers.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
I'm interested in knowing what he has against condoms
Submitted by shawn. on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:26am.
.......and what he would do as President on issues like condoms and the morning after pill
I finally figured out what the "Baby Whisperer" said to the baby
Submitted by TheHistorian on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:31am.
Remember when Obama took the crying infant and the baby settled down? Obama probably told him either "you could still be aborted, you know, if you don't shut up" or "One more cry out of you and I shut off your family's food stamps". That is what Savannah Guthrie wants is a government that decides who gets help or not, not one where individuals help each other. Savannah, there was welfare at the time of Jesus through the temple. I don't recall Jesus telling anyone that they should send the poor and widows to the temple for assistance. Instead, I recall that he said that YOU should help, and made a big deal that when YOU didn't help, it was a problem for you. These people don't understand the personal commitment of Christianity. Instead, they want to hire some bureaucrat to pretend to help others for them.
I get so sick of these people treating Jesus like some teacher and that is all. I believe in CS Lewis' evaluation that either he was God or insane. The miracles of healing and transformation that the Bible documents are not those of the government, they are those of Jesus Christ for believers. When was the last time that you saw a liberal whose heart was transformed? And remained a liberal?
Dennis Prager
The MSM lightweighs always go
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:39am.
The MSM lightweighs always go for the 'heavy' issues - like abortion, contraception, gay rights, animal rights, 'global warming', and the like.................I guess the downward spiral of our economy, our freedom, our security, and the future of our country is just a little too shallow for them to get into.
Sidebar
Submitted by bkeyser on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:40am.
Rasmussen: Romney 45, Obama 39
Touche! Santorum is a
Submitted by goldwater89 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:02pm.
Touche!
Santorum is a complete and utter joke. He continues to espouse the same views that cost him his Senate seat by 18%
I wasn't directing my post at you
Submitted by bkeyser on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:15pm.
so I'm not sure why the "touché" but it's important to remember that Santorum lost that seat in the Democratic wave election of '06, in a bluish-purple state to the son of the former governor. His views were obviously electable there in '94 and '00, before war in Iraq and the discontent with the GOP became politics du jour. And yes, he is consistently conservative so when the public mood changes, consistency is often defeated.
It's fine if you don't like or plan to vote for Santorum, but calling him a joke with nothing to back up such an attack is just frivolous.
The touche was to prove the
Submitted by goldwater89 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:28pm.
The touche was to prove the point that Romney is the only GOP candidate that can beat Obama.
You're just making up excuses for the guy. No incumbent loses their seat by that many points unless they've gone completely off the deep end. Also, the Democrat Santorum beat in 2000, Ron Klink, was a social conservative.
He's a pariah to Independents. He talks more about gay people than gay people talk about gay people.
That may be
Submitted by bkeyser on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 2:55pm.
your crystal ball, notwithstanding. And no, I'm not making excuses for the guy; I don't have a horse in his race. I was merely pointing out the circumstances under which he lost his election, as well as those in which he won his elections; the conditions, by the way, were beyond his control.
As far as his talking about gay people- that's because it is the question he's most often asked. If you were constantly asked why you rarely offer a meaningful blog comment, people would accuse you of too often defending your right to make incendiary and meaningless blog comments.
There's a reason why it's the
Submitted by goldwater89 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 4:28pm.
There's a reason why it's the question he's most asked. He's being goofed on for caring so much about it.
Oh no, he's trying to appeal
Submitted by humanzee on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 1:06pm.
Oh no, he's trying to appeal to a demographic that outnumbers the gay agenda and hardcore feminazis.
The MSM and the public school system has just indoctrinated the simpletons to give the population that won't breed to sustain itself the ability to dictate the future world of the children they won't have a hand at making.
The religious right hasn't gotten mean yet and started looking at the opposition as trash.
Religious right breeds earlier, breeds more, has more healthy young. And now is looking to put the education of their young in their own hands.
The liberals who support the gay agenda, support abortion... are going to kill themselves off eventually. The contraception they take make them less fertile. The longer women wait to have children, the harder it gets. It's going to take a while for them to go away, though.
The only reason the liberals have their way is because the right wing hasn't started playing the numbers and science game. The right will screw the left with its own "weapons."
If the people who think one way let the people who think another way abort, gay themselves into oblivion... they win. In the long run, if the right people can pass on their values to their children and make a lot of them, they're going to win in the end. If they can keep the "progressives" from encroaching on their lives, they can hold out even if they can't beat them straight away.
Legalize the most dangerous birth control, let them have abortions in roaming trucks, let the wicked kill themselves. Give them drugs, give them the most effective and dangerous birth control, let them screw with their hormone levels, let them fade into oblivion.
The moralists expend a lot of energy and money trying to save people who want to go extinct, want to harm themselves, want to incur natures wrath on themselves.
Moralists should focus on amassing power, wealth, land, manpower, etc, etc. In the end social darwinism may give the religious element what it always wanted. The people who are genetically predisposed to enjoy drugs more, enjoy casual sex more, fill their bodies with artificial hormones, play with their anatomy and physiology for recreation are probably going to feel the brutal wrath of evolution.
that is a very interesting
Submitted by shawn. on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 1:09pm.
that is a very interesting idea
The lefties resent the good
Submitted by humanzee on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 1:37pm.
The lefties resent the good natured religious common folk who espouse the values of Mr. Santorum. They see you as human, they want to be Superman. They want to save the evil heathens from themselves and like Jesus they think they need to take the nail in their wrist, writhe in pain on a cross, and die for other peoples' sins.
They really don't hate you people.
If they were pragmatic , they'd embrace eugenics, they'd embrace Darwinism and look to build themselves a society higher ideals by giving the "progressives" the equivalent of social diabetes.
But no... they have to be sentimental.
ALL women support abortion?
Submitted by FaulknerFan on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:00pm.
the general election will come down to those middle of the road voters - moderate, persuadable, independent voters. Many of them are women.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2011/12/29/nbc-presses-santor...
She seems to be saying that if you don't support abortion then the moderate, independent, etc., voter, including ALL women, won't support you. Seems to me I've seen polls that show around half of the women in this country are pro life. It's like NOW being The Women's Organization but only really supporting liberals, i.e., a propaganda organization for liberal causes under the guise of supporting the entire group of women. Actually they could give a good GD about women, just the promotion of liberal causes. Same as the AARP. Typical liberal tactic: implying or outright saying that an entire monolithic group is always on their side and using that huge lie as a weapon against conservatives in their interviews. Last I heard about 40% of Americans identify themselves as conservatives and 20 % as liberals. The main reason Newt surged was his willingness to call these self serving pompous asses out. I wish more republican candidates would do the same, with the same effectiveness.
The democrat base is all about,
Submitted by mioilman on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:17pm.
Abortion.
Obama would rather see his grandchild thrown in the trash than "have his daughter punished with a baby."
How mainstream and moderate is that position really?
It's time for republicans to do for the unborn what they did for the slaves. Protect their God given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
God Bless America and Happy New Year.