Herman Cain Abortion Amendment: GOP Candidate Makes Constitutional Error

Herman Cain may not think it's important to know who the president of Uzbekistan is, but he might want to brush up on his knowledge of the constitution.

The GOP candidate told Christian Broadcasting Network that he would sign a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

"I feel that strongly about it. If we can get the necessary support and it comes to my desk I’ll sign it. That’s all I can do. I will sign it," he said.

Unfortunately for Cain, as Politico's Ben Smith points out, the president doesn't sign constitutional amendments. In fact, he plays essentially no role in the process.

Cain's comments came in the wake of last week's controversy over remarks that he made to Piers Morgan. Cain told Morgan that abortion is "a choice that that family or that mother has to make" and "it's not the government's role...to make that decision." After taking heat from Republicans, he walked back his remarks and asserted that "abortion should not be legal."

He also blamed CNN for allegedly taking his remarks out of context.

His attempts at damage control have done little to silence his fellow GOP candidates. Michele Bachmann accused Cain of "flip-flops" on "Fox News Sunday" and last week, Rick Santorum called the former pizza executive's beliefs "quintessentially pro-choice."

Watch his full interview with CBN below:

Comments

[Emily Munko]

12:54 AM on 10/28/2011

I feel that Herman Cain is ignorant to think that he is in a good position to be a candidate right now; he won't make it through to the election. He's wrong to think that he can sign a constitutional amendment, the president has no role at all in the amendment process. The signing of the amendments by past presidents is merely a formality, a ceremony only. It has no effect or bearing on whether the amendment is ratified or not. Furthermore; to say on national television, that he feels strongly that abortion is completely the choice of the family or mother, and then turn around and say (on national television) that he is against the very thought of abortion, is hipocritical and backwards. I personally can't trust a man to run this country when he clearly is only telling specific groups of people what they want to hear. Cain is completely wrong for this job. Why anyone would vote for him is a puzzle to me.

[Silverwolf72]

08:15 PM on 10/25/2011

I love the whole we want smaller government except when it comes to things they don't agree with.

[shrugged]

01:41 PM on 10/25/2011

Big government neocon. And he was a member of the Fed, so he is already an insider.

[Allosaur2010]

10:30 AM on 10/25/2011

Hey Herman...America has no king. America needs no king. (sneers like Boromir)

[brooksbayne]

02:01 AM on 10/25/2011

huffington post and bill maher wrong again about herman cain: http://thegraph.com/2011/10/huffington-post-and-bill-maher-attack-herman-cain-in-error/

While the President doesn’t have a constitutional role in amending the Constitution, former Presidents, starting with Johnson, ironically, a Democrat, started signing constitutional amendments ceremonially. From the National Archives, the entity responsible for administering the ratification process:

"In recent history, the signing of the certification has become a ceremonial function attended by various dignitaries, which may include the President. President Johnson signed the certifications for the 24th and 25th Amendments as a witness, and President Nixon similarly witnessed the certification of the 26th Amendment along with three young scholars. On May 18, 1992, the Archivist performed the duties of the certifying official for the first time to recognize the ratification of the 27th Amendment, and the Director of the Federal Register signed the certification as a witness."

you're welcome!

[nix28]

12:30 PM on 10/27/2011

Key word: ceremonially. Look up the word. The president's signature carries absolutely no weight or importance in regards to constitutional amendments. As long as the amendment is ratified by 3/4 of the states and passes Congress by a 2/3 majority, it becomes official. Ceremonious signings are merely a way for presidents to show agreement with the amendments; the amendments would still become official, whether the president signed the amendment or not.

Amendments are not signed as laws are, and given that Cain did not say he would ceremoniously sign an amendment, we shouldn't assume that that's what he meant.

[Very V]

01:57 AM on 10/25/2011

Abraham Lincoln actually signed the resolution that submitted the 13th Amendment to the states. So while it may not be constitutionally necessary, there is precedent for it.

[Seven Teenatheart]

06:17 AM on 10/25/2011

No - because constitutionally the President's signature carries zero weight on it.

[paulthamec]

11:03 AM on 10/26/2011

yes....executive order..

[cutesky]

01:48 AM on 10/25/2011

Cain should go back to motivational speaking .He obviously knows nothing about the Constitution, world leaders, foreign affairs and can't count higher than 999.. On the other hand........he is very knolwedgable when it comes to double talking and snake oil salesmanship.

[shrugged]

01:42 PM on 10/25/2011

He is also good a buying his own books with his campaign funds so that his book sales look higher.

[paulthamec]

11:04 AM on 10/26/2011

and neither does the congress and president

[pspag3]

11:09 PM on 10/24/2011

Does the HuffPo realize there are not 57 states? Just checking since the main stream media seems only too happy to overlook every stupid thing Obama has ever said.

[akittywithglasses]

12:25 AM on 10/25/2011

LOL very funny
try something new, and look at the lack of preparedness of Cain.

[Jimbo2001]

12:47 AM on 10/25/2011

Surely that's not a surprise to anyone, left or right.

[matt gordon]

10:43 PM on 10/24/2011

The photo with Cain holding his index finger up looks like he is checking to see in which direction the political wind is blowing.

[shrugged]

01:43 PM on 10/25/2011

No need to check, as a prior member of the Fed, he will follow his directions from the bankers.

[Boomer946]

10:20 PM on 10/24/2011

Herman you could at least read the part of the Constitution that spells out the duties of the Executive Branch which is led by the :President! If you don't know something don't try winging it off the top of your head, cause the top of your head is pretty sparsely populated!

[Jimbo2001]

12:20 AM on 10/25/2011

Yeah, he's probably not a whole lot smarter than Obama and Biden combined.

[traceymarie]

04:45 PM on 10/25/2011

lmao...you rallied for sp when she did not have a clue what the job functions of the VP were and now you stump for caine without a clue.

[tarskarkas]

09:54 PM on 10/24/2011

i may well be wrong about this , but i am pretty certain that it makes no difference if a candidate is a right to lifer or pro choice , gun control or gun advocate or any other campaign issue attendee . if the issue is already a law the POTUS or any other person trying to get elected can't do anything about it anyway . The president can nominate a Supreme Court justice that is sympathetic to his cause or a senator or rep can work to change the law but that's as far as an individual can go .

[Tom Payned]

09:52 PM on 10/24/2011

To all of you grousing about Cain and how he and Bachmann should get out of the race are missing the big picture. The fall TV schedule is kind of weak. Most "reality shows" are meaningless to the viewers.

Until we get better comedies, this is great entertainment.

[AndyPhx]

09:37 PM on 10/24/2011

In what way is being a CEO and being POTUS the same?

A business is not a democracy.

You you can tell this guy does not like his, ahem, logic questioned. Just look at how dismissive he is towards his critics. He's so bothered and put off by having to explain things. He is quick to insult the intelligence of anyone who disagrees with him. Can you imagine him telling our allies they're brainwashed because they don't see things his way?

Which is why he has the wrong mindset, temperment and disposition to be POTUS. Herman doesn't play well with others. We already had a pres and VP from 2001-2009 who would take their toys and stomp their feet all the way home when they weren't getting their way.

We do not need to revisit that nightmare again people.

[Glen Bradley]

02:31 AM on 10/26/2011

Well, to be fair (and I hate Herman Cain myself) the US is not a Democracy either. It is, or at least it's supposed to be, a Constitutional Republic. We stopped teaching this in school somewhere around 1950. There IS a pretty significant difference. Republics transition through Democracy-ish governance on their way towards failure. For the US, that transition began in 1913. Today, the evidence of that impending failure, with our wild oscillations, is blatant.

The only enforcement for the US Constitution has only ever been the people via the voting booth. In 1790, we remembered that as Thomas Jefferson was elected being a vehement opponent of the Alien and Sedition Acts. In 1942, Wickard v Filburn, we forgot that and it has languished in the memory hole ever since. It's time the people of America stopped voting Republican, stopped voting Democratic, and started voting the Constitution. It's time to enforce it again and get America back on track!

[jgzeger]

08:54 PM on 10/24/2011

Herman Cain's "big mistake" was to run for president.

[JohnnyKay]

08:43 PM on 10/24/2011

Balloons full of hot air always deflate.

Think Bachmann, Perry, Cain..................