2012 GOP Candidates: Where Do They Stand On Women's Health Issues?

The president of the United States wields a great deal of power over reproductive freedom and choice through judicial nominations, budget appropriations and the veto power. All eight major contenders for the Republican nomination are vehemently anti-abortion. But on family planning, emergency contraception for rape and incest victims, insurance coverage for birth control and other issues related to women's health, the candidates vary widely in their records and stances.

Five candidates -- Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) and Gov. Rick Perry (Texas) -- signed the Susan B. Anthony List's 2012 Pro-life Leadership Pledge to nominate only anti-abortion candidates to the Supreme Court and other Cabinet and executive branch positions and to defund Planned Parenthood.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.), former Gov. Jon Huntsman (Utah) and Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza refused to join the pact, which Romney said was because it could block some federal funding from going to hospitals and would restrict his ability to appoint certain Cabinet members.

While candidates such as Huntsman and Perry have expressed support for certain family planning and sex education programs as well as emergency contraception for rape victims through bills they signed as governors, other candidates such as Santorum and Gingrich would like to zero out funds for programs including Title X, the nation's only program dedicated solely to providing family planning services and contraception to low-income women.

The Susan B. Anthony List told HuffPost it has not endorsed any particular candidate yet out of the ones who have signed the anti-abortion pledge. Samantha Gordon, a spokeswoman for NARAL Pro-Choice America, said NARAL refused to rank the candidates in any way because "they are all bad" on choice issues.

"We have no doubt that threats to these basic rights of women would become far worse with either one of these candidates in the White House," Gordon said.

HuffPost compiled a slideshow highlighting the candidates' stated views and voting records on issues related to women's health and reproductive choice:

Comments

[Alexander Cardosa]

10:36 AM on 09/09/2011

GOP about women health = Pray to Jesus.

All republicans should not be allowed to get any medication, after all their Jesus will save them every time.

[rowdiman]

09:00 PM on 09/06/2011

Headline brings to mind Bush and his "OB-Gyn's sharing their love...."

Clearly, the GOP should not be consulted on matters regarding women's health.

[Kathryn Talbert]

08:57 PM on 09/06/2011

What an absolute insult to Susan B. Anthony who campaigned hard for women to have something close to equal rights under the law.

They say they want small government but when it comes to the traditional guy issues of money, economic power and war they can't pry open the taxpayer's wallet wide enough.

But when it comes to those issues that effect women's lives, such as a safety net should she be caught between her children and the economy, the freedom to live her personal life and care for her body free of persecution and intrusion, the ability to earn equal pay for equal work, the ability to work in any work environment she is able to without fear of ridicule, abuse or exclusion, the ability to walk or go where she pleases without fear of being attacked and then blamed for that in the courts, free to have a childhood uninterrupted by pressure to be sexually active before she graduates high school.

Nope, no chips for you ladies! When they meant "small government" they meant no funding for anything that benefits your life. And when libertarians mean "freedom" they only mean white males. They do absolutely intend to marshall the efforts of the state to make sure you behave yourself, remain chaste and pure and are punished harshly if you don't.

[comer23]

07:53 PM on 09/06/2011

If you are for small government you should in theory be pro-choice. Small government in a nut shell means you make your own decisions, the government doesn't. The role of the government both federal and state is making the sure the economy is strong, defend your people and making sure they are safe, and giving them a quality education so they can move the country forward. I'm sure there are others ,but I only have so many words to write. The GOP is putting up smoke screens to people by saying what they want you to hear and when they get into office the show you what they are really about. We are seeing it now in WI. OH, MI, FL and the rest of the Republican controlled states. They have a big government agenda and people are falling for their sweet words only to feel bitterness in the belly.

[mclown69]

05:02 PM on 09/06/2011

The Republican party! Where poor people go against their own interests, Where women go against their own interests, Where blacks go against their own interest. where gays go against their own interests. The Republican party! Where rich people laugh at all the people going against their own interests!!

[KathyinCT]

07:50 PM on 09/05/2011

Women's HEALTH does not unite these people.

Harming women's health is their goal.

[stylista48]

07:36 PM on 09/05/2011

This whole talk infuriates me..The funding would be a billion times LARGERfor the cost's in other area's like fostercare, welfare, social security,education and medical for these unwanted children if we do away with funding for abortions...dont bring your bible's out to argue women's legal right in modern day 21st century! It's to sway christian voter's at the polls and nothing more!

[Deshana Hamid]

03:49 PM on 09/06/2011

I'm not sure how that follows logically - so if funding was diverted from abortion, unwanted babies would have better...foster care? Welfare? Education? Then, when those same unwanted children are bounced from home to home and given substandard educations - they end up on welfare, and you will then say "oh those people using our taxes for welfare, they're using me" But you are at this moment asking for more funding towards welfare to spite pro-choice. How twisted. And let's not forget - if the child was UNWANTED, but BORN... doesn't that mean someone decided AGAINST ABORTION? but now has an UNWANTED child? Sounds healthy. loving even. Your rhetoric makes me wonder if your parents WANTED YOU.

[Souris9]

04:17 PM on 09/06/2011

The argument was that if funding was diverted from abortion, more funding WOULD BE NEEDED to provide the unwanted children with foster care, medical, education, and welfare. You sound like you agree with stylista -- who are you yelling at?

[Kathryn Talbert]

09:00 PM on 09/06/2011

Spending to equal the playing field and give women and young women opportunity does in fact lower the birth rate, its been shown over and over again. Whether here or in other countries, the less opportunities women have and the less education, the more likely they are to have high birth rates, early and unhealthy pregnancies and their offspring will suffer in poverty and repeat the same mistakes they learned at home.

How many times does the truth have to be told before people decide to listen?

[Kells38]

11:58 AM on 09/05/2011

They want their "right to bear arms" I want my "RIGHT TO CHOOSE"

[TruEngineHearing]

11:01 AM on 09/05/2011

Having trouble defining big government? It's really no mystery. When 'the man' stands over a woman - desperate to not carry a pregnancy to term - and forces her to do so against her will, it is the world's largest nuclear power with its boot on her neck. That's Big Government.

[venicefpg]

10:51 AM on 09/05/2011

we must get rid of all abortions, as it's against how the holy book tells us to live our lives, it's much more important than jobs, unemployment and taxes

[KathyinCT]

07:52 PM on 09/05/2011

You are ANTI-AMERICAN.

This country is NOT governed by your personal "holy book." We are a country with a Constitution that says religion is NOT to be part of our government.

Why do you attack our Constittution???

[Kathryn Talbert]

09:01 PM on 09/06/2011

The commenter was being sarcastic.

[MissK425]

10:03 AM on 09/06/2011

Which holy book? The Douay Confraternity Bible? The St. James Bible? The Quran? The Torah? The Buddhist Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan texts? The Shinto Yengishiki, Kojiki and Nihongi texts? The Confucian canon. You need to be more specific because in America our citizens have the inalienable rights that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status and should not be forced into submission by one group or another.

[hjmarrangoni]

08:58 AM on 09/05/2011

“The GOP are "pro-life" but against funding health care for disadvanta­ged people. Does this make sense to you? The only sense it makes to me is that the GOP position on pro-life only exists to obtain the Christian Conservati­ve vote and support.It seems to me that if the GOP were serious about pro-life , they would also be serious about ensuring the availabili­ty of quality prenatal and postnatal medical care for all Americans. As it stands now the GOP is pro-life for disadvanta­ged Americans and pro-choice for the rich.”

[venicefpg]

10:54 AM on 09/05/2011

bring back the "promise Keepers"

[knoxvillegirl]

10:52 PM on 09/06/2011

I see the exact same logic! Thank you.

[Periwinkle]

08:37 AM on 09/05/2011

Isn't what Republicans want "big government" at its most intrusive?

[MissK425]

10:06 AM on 09/06/2011

We used to want laissez faire, but I don't know what happened? That's why those of us who embrace the true values of Lincoln and other great Republicans must fight from within to wrestle the party back from its current perversion of the original ideology and return it to all the people.

[Kathryn Talbert]

09:02 PM on 09/06/2011

Good luck with that, Lincoln has been dead a long, long time and the Republican party has gone far away from what it was during his time. You'd have an easier time readjusting the moon.

[SpookyAnnya]

03:11 AM on 09/05/2011

Abortion has been legal for 38 years in the first trimester without federal imposed guilt or guidelines. There is no reason for the federal goverenment to have control over a woman's sexual organs. The woman's choice. According to the GOP''s beliefs she will face God some day it is not their place to judge. The need not use the federal government to impose their religion on me.

[jb2000000]

02:04 AM on 09/05/2011

Doesn't anybody remember that abortion was signed into law to get it out of the "Back Allies" and have them preformed by qualified professionals? Once it be comes illegal or impossible to get again, your daughters will have to once again resort to back ally hacks. It will have NO impact on whether or not a woman choose to have one.

And besides, who ever gave politicians the right to tell woman what they can or can't do with their own bodies. Less government? Take our country back? Hypocrisy to the 10th power.

[bassface49]

02:33 AM on 09/05/2011

Conservatism is the 'brain damage' that puts problems into 'back allies' to fester and become the 'Jim and Tammy Bakers' of the world...........fnf!

[maab76]

01:46 PM on 09/05/2011

The fear of change drives a lot of this "fundamentalism." Isolation, lack of knowledge and fear of learning contribute to the "I don't want no changes made. I like the status quo."

Example: Although I do not drive a high powered sports car, I fight for the right to keep driving a standard transmission vehicle. Okay, so I'm a control freak. My alley garage often has snow plowed against the door. With snow tires and the standard transmission I can still get out with a minimum of shoveling. I have had cars with automatic, overdrive, and all the bells and whistles. I still choose the above described vehicle!


Does that explain a bit about the reluctance of many to change attitudes and technology in their personal lives? As we age, we have slower reflexes and less control on many of the "new-fangled" devices others love. If we are to make the requested changes in our lives, we had better be ready to assist the reluctant among us to learn how to use them, not just to sell them at a profit.

[llisa]

03:44 AM on 09/05/2011

I remember.

The irony is that many republican women have had abortions, yet they go along with this farce.

[kelsye2000]

01:41 AM on 09/05/2011

none of them really care at all about women's rights! This is sad