WASHINGTON, DC, November 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Susan B. Anthony list announced yesterday that presidential candidate Herman Cain has signed their pro-life pledge, after initially refusing to do so.
The four-pronged pledge commits candidates to choosing pro-life judges and executive appointees as well as advancing legislation that would defund Planned Parenthood, stop all taxpayer-funded abortions, and outlaw abortions where the child is capable of feeling pain.
Cain initially said that he planned to appoint pro-life judges and cabinet members, and work for an end to tax-payer funded abortions, but argued that advancing legislation was beyond the scope of Executive power.
“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,” he said, in a press release this past June explaining why he would not sign the pledge.
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In a recent statement explaining his new decision to sign, Cain said he would do “everything that a President can do constitutionally to advance the culture of life.”
With the addition of Cain’s signature, front-runner Mitt Romney is the only candidate left in the race who has not signed. Romney has called the pledge “overly broad,” indicating that he would support a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act but would not necessarily limit himself to pro-life executive appointees.
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser called Cain’s reversal “consistent with the Herman Cain we have come to know.”
“He understands the wound abortion is to America and especially to the most vulnerable among us—people that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger labeled ‘human weeds,’” Dannenfelser added.
Cain’s views on abortion have been the center of controversy throughout his campaign. In addition to receiving criticism for his initial refusal to sign the SBA Pledge, he also created confusion last month when he told CNN that abortion was a choice that a family or mother had to make, rather than the government.
He has since said that he is “100% pro-life,” and that his statement on CNN was “focused on the role of the President.”
In October at the Values Voter Summit, he had told attendees that he was pro-life, “no exceptions.”